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Dans-Prosemaxx-Cowriter-S

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[ { "from": "system", "value": "Task: Cooperative storytelling\nMy role: Provide a brief opening\nYour role: Expand upon my opening with four sentences, emulating the writing style of Guy Gavriel Kay." }, { "from": "system", "value": "Produce a starting prompt please." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "'Oh, Morian,' Allessan whispered, wistful regret infusing his voice. 'I could have sent him to your judgement even now. A child could have put an arrow in his eye from here.'\n\nNot this child, Devin thought ruefully, gauging the distance and the light from where they were hidden among the trees north of the ribbon of road the Barbadians had just ridden along." }, { "from": "human", "value": "He looked with even more respect than before at Alessan and the crossbow he'd picked up from a cache they'd looped past on the way here." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "'She will claim him when she is ready,' Baerd said prosaically. 'And you are the one who has spent his life saying that it will be to no good if either one of them dies too soon.'\n\nAlessan grunted. 'Did I shoot?' he asked pointedly.\n\nBaerd's teeth flashed briefly in the moonlight." }, { "from": "human", "value": "'I would have stopped you in any case.'" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Alessan swore succinctly. Then, a moment later, relaxed into quiet amusement. The two men had a manner with each other that spoke to long familiarity. Catriana, Devin saw, had not smiled. Certainly not at him." }, { "from": "human", "value": "On the other hand, he reminded himself, he was supposed to be the one who was angry." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The present circumstances made it a little hard though. He felt anxious and proud and excited, all at once.\n\nHe was also the only one of the four of them who hadn't noticed Tomasso, bound at wrist and ankle to his horse.\n\n'We'd better check the lodge,' Baerd said as the transient mood slipped away." }, { "from": "human", "value": "'Then I think we will have to travel very fast." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Sandre's son will name you and the boy.'\n\n'We had better have a talk about the boy first,' Catriana said in a tone that made it suddenly very easy for Devin to reclaim his anger.\n\n'The boy?' he repeated, raising his eyebrows. 'I think you have evidence to the contrary.'" }, { "from": "human", "value": "He let his gaze rest coldly on hers, and was rewarded to see her flush and turn away." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Briefly rewarded.\n\n'Unworthy, Devin,' Alessan said. 'I hope not to hear that note from you again. Catriana violated all I know of her nature in doing what she did this morning." }, { "from": "human", "value": "If you are intelligent enough to have come here you will be more than intelligent enough to now understand why she did it." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "You might suspend your own pride long enough to think about how she is feeling.'\n\nIt was mildly said, but Devin felt as if he had just been punched in the stomach. Swallowing awkwardly, he looked from Alessan back to Catriana, but her gaze was fixed on the stars, away from and above them all. Finally, shamed, he looked down at the darkened forest floor." }, { "from": "human", "value": "He felt fourteen years old again." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "'I don't particularly appreciate that, Alessan,' he heard Catriana saying coldly. 'I fight my own wars. You know it.'\n\n'Not to mention,' Baerd added casually, 'the dazzling inappropriateness of your chastising anyone alive for having too much pride.'\n\nAlessan chose to ignore that." }, { "from": "human", "value": "To Catriana he said, 'Bright star of Eanna, do you think I don't know how you can fight?" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "This is different though. What happened this morning cannot be allowed to matter. I can't have this becoming a battle between you if Devin is to be one of us.'\n\n'If he what? '" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Catriana wheeled on him." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "'Are you mad? Is it the music? Because he can sing? Why should someone from Asoli possibly be—'\n\n'Hold peace!' Alessan said sharply." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Catriana fell abruptly silent." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Not having any good idea where to look or what to feel, Devin continued to simulate an intense interest in the loamy forest soil beneath his feet. His mind and heart were whirling with confusion.\n\nAlessan's voice was gentler when he resumed. 'Catriana, what happened this morning was not his fault either." }, { "from": "human", "value": "You are not to blame him." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "You did what you felt you had to do and it did not succeed. He cannot be blamed or cursed for following you as innocently as he did. If you must, curse me for not stopping him as he went through the door. I could have.'\n\n'Why didn't you then?' Baerd asked." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Devin remembered Alessan looking at him as he'd paused in the archway of that inner door that had seemed a gateway to a land of dreaming." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "'Yes, why?' he asked awkwardly, looking up. 'Why did you let me follow?'\n\nThe moonlight was purely blue now. Vidomni was over west behind the tops of the trees." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Only Ilarion was overhead among the stars, making the night strange with her shining." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Ghostlight, the country folk called it when the blue moon rode alone.\n\nAlessan had the light behind him so his eyes were hidden. For a moment the only sounds were the night noises of the forest: rustle of leaf in breeze, of grass, the dry crackle of the woodland floor, quick flap of wings to a branch near by. Somewhere north of them a small animal cried out and another answered it." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Alessan said: 'Because I knew the tune his father taught him as a child and I know who his father is and he isn't from Asoli." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Catriana, my dear, it isn't just the music, whatever you may think of my own weaknesses. He is one of us, my darling. Baerd, will you test him?'\n\nOn the most conscious, rational level, Devin understood almost none of this." }, { "from": "human", "value": "None the less he felt himself beginning to grow cold even as Alessan spoke." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He had a swooping sense, like the descent of a hunting bird, that he had come to where Morian's portal had led him, here in the shadows of this wood under the waxing blue moon.\n\nNor was he made easier when he turned to Baerd and saw the stricken look on the face of the other man. Even by the distorting moonlight he could see how pale Baerd had become.\n\n'Alessan...' Baerd began, his voice roughened." }, { "from": "human", "value": "'You are dearer to me than anyone alive,' Alessan said, calm and grave." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "'You have been more than a brother to me. I would not hurt you for the world, and especially not in this. Never in this. I would not ask unless I was sure. Test him, Baerd.'\n\nStill Baerd hesitated, which made Devin's own anxiety grow; he understood less and less of what was happening." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Only that it seemed to matter to the others, a great deal." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "For a long moment no one moved. Finally Baerd, walking carefully, as if holding tightly to control of himself, took Devin by the arm and led him a dozen steps further into the wood to a small clearing among a circle of trees.\n\nNeatly he lowered himself to sit cross-legged on the ground. After a moment's hesitation Devin did the same." }, { "from": "human", "value": "There was nothing he could do but follow the leads he was being given; he had no idea where they were going." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Not on the road I'm on, he remembered Catriana saying in the palace that morning. He linked his hands together to keep them steady; he felt cold, and it had little to do with the chill of night.\n\nHe heard Alessan and Catriana following them but he didn't look back. For the moment what was important was the enormous thing—whatever it was—that he could see building in Baerd's eyes." }, { "from": "human", "value": "The blond-haired man had appeared so effortlessly competent until this moment and now, absurdly, he seemed to have become terribly fragile." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Someone who could be shattered with unsettling ease. Abruptly, and for the second time in that long day, Devin felt as if he were crossing over into a country of dream, leaving behind the simple, defined boundaries of the daylight world.\n\nAnd in this mood, under the blue light of Ilarion, he heard Baerd begin the tale, so that it came to him that first time like a spell, something woven in words out of the lost spaces of his childhood. Which is what, in the end, it was." }, { "from": "human", "value": "'In the year Alberico took Astibar,' said Baerd, 'while the provinces of Tregea and Certando were each preparing to fight him alone, and before Ferraut had fallen, Brandin, King of Ygrath, came to this peninsula from the west." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He sailed his fleet into the Great Harbour of Chiara and he took the Island. He took it easily, for the Grand Duke killed himself, seeing how many ships had come from Ygrath. This much I suspect that you know.'\n\nHis voice was low." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Devin found himself leaning forward, straining to hear." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "A trialla was singing sweetly, sadly, from a branch behind him. Alessan and Catriana made no sound at all. Baerd went on.\n\n'In that year the Peninsula of the Palm became a battleground in an enormous balancing game between Ygrath and the Empire of Barbadior. Neither thought it could afford to give the other free rein here, halfway between the two of them." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Which is one of the reasons Brandin came." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The other reason, as we learned afterwards, had to do with his younger, most-beloved son, Stevan. Brandin of Ygrath sought to carve out a second realm for his child to rule. What he found was something else.'\n\nThe trialla was still singing." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Baerd paused to listen, as if finding in its liquescent voice, gentler even than the nightingale's, an echo to something in his own." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "'The Chiarans, attempting to rally a resistance in the mountains, were massacred on the slopes of Sangarios. Brandin took Asoli province soon after, and word of his power ran before him. He was very strong in his sorcery, even stronger than Alberico, and though he had fewer soldiers than the Barbadians in the east, his were more completely loyal and better trained. For where Alberico was only a wealthy, ambitious minor lord of the Empire using hired mercenaries, Brandin ruled Ygrath and his were the picked soldiers of that realm." }, { "from": "human", "value": "They moved south through Corte almost effortlessly, defeating each province's army one by one, for none of us acted together in that year." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Or after, naturally.' Baerd's voice wasn't quite detached enough for the irony he was trying for.\n\n'From Corte, Brandin himself turned east with the smaller part of his army to meet Alberico in Ferraut and pin him down there. He sent Stevan south to take the last free province in the west and then cross over to join him in Ferraut to meet the Barbadians in the battle that I think they all expected would shape the fate of the Palm.\n\n'It was a mistake, though he could not really have known it then, eighteen years ago." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Newly landed here, ignorant of the natures of the different provinces in this peninsula." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "I suppose he wanted Stevan to have a taste of leadership on his own. He gave him most of the army and his best commanders, relying on his own sorcery to hold Alberico until the others joined him.'\n\nBaerd paused for a moment, his blue eyes focused inward. When he resumed, there was a new timbre to his voice; it seemed to Devin to be carrying many different things, all of them old, and all of them sorrowful." }, { "from": "human", "value": "'At the line of the River Deisa,' Baerd said, 'a little more than halfway between Certando and the sea at Corte, Stevan was met by the bitterest resistance either of the invading armies was to find in the Palm." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Led by their Prince—for in their pride they had always named their ruler so—the people of that last province in the west met the Ygrathens and held them, and beat them back from the river with heavy losses on both sides.\n\n'And Prince Valentin of that province... the province you know as Lower Corte, slew Stevan of Ygrath, Brandin's beloved son, on the bank of the river at sunset after a bitter day of death.'\n\nDevin could almost taste the keenness of old grief in the words. He saw Baerd glance over for the first time to where Alessan was standing." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Neither man spoke. Devin never took his own eyes away from Baerd." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He concentrated as if his life depended on his doing so, treating each word spoken as if it were a jewelled mosaic piece to be set into the memory that was his own pride.\n\nAnd right about then it seemed to Devin that a distant bell began to toll in some recess of his mind. Ringing a warning. As might a village bell in a temple of Adaon, summoning farmers urgently back from the fields. A far bell heard, faint but clear, from over morning fields of waving yellow grain." }, { "from": "human", "value": "'Brandin knew what had happened immediately through his sorcery,' Baerd said, his voice like the rasp of a file." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "'He swept back south and west, leaving Alberico a free hand in Ferraut and Certando. He came down with the full weight of his sorcery and his army and with the rage of a father whose son has been slain, and he met the remnant of his last foes where they had waited for him by the Deisa.'\n\nOnce more Baerd looked over at Alessan. His face was bleak, ghostly in the moonlight. He said:" }, { "from": "human", "value": "'Brandin annihilated them. He smashed them to pieces without mercy or respite." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Drove them helplessly before him back into their own country south of the Deisa and he burned every field and village through which he passed. He took no prisoners. He had women slain in that first march, and children, which was not a thing he'd done anywhere else. But nowhere else had his own child died." }, { "from": "human", "value": "So many souls crossed over to Morian for the sake of the soul of Stevan of Ygrath." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "His father overran that province in blood and fire. Before the summer was out he had levelled all the glorious towers of the city in the foothills of the mountains—the one now called Stevanien. On the coast he smashed to rubble and sand the walls and the harbour barriers of the royal city by the sea. And in the battle by the river he took the Prince who had slain his son and later that year had him tortured and mutilated and killed in Chiara.'" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Baerd's voice was a dry whisper now under the starlight and the light of the single moon." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "And with it there was still that bell warning of sorrows yet to come, tolling in Devin's mind, louder now. Baerd said:\n\n'Brandin of Ygrath did something more than all of this. He gathered his magic, the sorcerous power that he had, and he laid down a spell upon that land such as had never even been conceived before. And with that spell he... tore its name away." }, { "from": "human", "value": "He stripped that name utterly from the minds of every man and woman who had not been born in that province." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "It was his deepest curse, his ultimate revenge. He made it as if we had never been. Our deeds, our history, our very name. And then he called us Lower Corte, after the bitterest of our ancient enemies among the provinces.'" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Behind him now Devin heard a sound and realized that Catriana was weeping." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Baerd said, 'Brandin made it come to pass that no one living could hear and then remember the name of that land, or of its royal city by the sea or even of that high, golden place of towers on the old road from the mountains. He broke us and he ravaged us. He killed a generation, and then he stripped away our name.'\n\nAnd those last words were not whispered or rasped into the autumn dark of Astibar." }, { "from": "human", "value": "They were hurled forth as a denunciation, an indictment, to the trees and the night and stars—the stars that had watched this thing come to pass." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The grief in that accusation clenched itself like a fist within Devin, more tightly than Baerd could ever have known. Than anyone could have known. For no one since Marra had died really knew what memory meant to Devin d'Asoli: the way in which it had come to be the touchstone of his soul.\n\nMemory was talisman and ward for him, gateway and hearth." }, { "from": "human", "value": "It was pride and love, shelter from loss: for if something could be remembered it was not wholly lost." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Not dead and gone forever. Marra could live; his dour, stern father hum a cradle song to him. And because of this, because this was at the heart of what Devin was, the old vengeance of Brandin of Ygrath smashed into him that night as if it had been newly wrought, pounding through to the vulnerable centre of how Devin saw and dealt with the world, and it cut him like a fresh and killing wound.\n\nWith an effort he forced himself to steadiness, willing the concentration that would allow him to remember this." }, { "from": "human", "value": "All of this. Which seemed to matter more than ever now." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Especially now, with the echo of Baerd's last terrible words fading in the night. Devin looked at the blond-haired man with the leather bands across his brow and about his neck, and he waited. He had been quick as a boy; he was a clever man. He understood what was coming; it had fallen into place." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Older by far than he had been only an hour ago, Devin heard Alessan murmur from behind him, 'The cradle song I heard you playing was from that last province, Devin." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "A song of the city of towers. No one not of that place could have learned that tune in the way you told me you did. It is how I knew you as one of us. It is why I did not stop you when you followed Catriana." }, { "from": "human", "value": "I left it to Morian to see what might lie beyond that doorway.'" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Devin nodded, absorbing this. A moment later he said, as carefully as he could, 'If this is so, if I have properly understood you, then I should be one of the people who can still hear and remember the name that has been... otherwise taken away.'\n\nAlessan said, 'It is so.'\n\nDevin discovered that his hands were shaking." }, { "from": "human", "value": "He looked down at them, concentrating, but he could not make them stop." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He said, 'Then this is something that has been stolen from me all my life. Will you... give it back to me? Will you tell me the name of the land where I was born?'\n\nHe was looking at Baerd by starlight, for Ilarion too was gone now, over west beyond the trees." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Alessan had said it was Baerd's to tell." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Devin didn't know why. In the darkness they heard the trialla one more time, a long, descending note, and then Baerd spoke, and for the first time in his days Devin heard someone say:\n\n'Tigana.'\n\nWithin him the bell he had been hearing, as if in a dream of unknown summer fields, fell silent." }, { "from": "human", "value": "And within that abrupt, absolute inner stillness a surge of loss broke over him like an ocean wave." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "And after that wave came another, and then a third—the one bearing love and the other a heart-deep pride. He felt a strange light-headed dizzying sensation as of a summons rushing along the corridors of his blood.\n\nThen he saw how Baerd was staring at him. Saw his face rigid and white, the fear transparent even by starlight, and something else as well: bitterest thirst—an aching, deprived hunger of the soul." }, { "from": "human", "value": "And then Devin understood, and gave to the other man the release he needed." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "'Thank you,' Devin said. He didn't seem to be trembling any more. Around a difficult thickness in his throat he went on, for it was his turn now, his test:\n\n'Tigana. Tigana." }, { "from": "human", "value": "I was born in the province of Tigana." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "My name... my true name is Devin di Tigana bar Garin.'\n\nEven as he spoke, something akin to glory blazed in Baerd's face. The fair-haired man squeezed his eyes tightly shut as if to hold that glory in, to keep it from escaping into the dispersing dark, to clutch it fiercely to his need. Devin heard Alessan draw an unsteady breath, and then, surprised, he felt Catriana touch his shoulder and then withdraw her hand." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Baerd was lost in a place beyond speech." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "It was Alessan who said, 'That is one of the two names taken away, and the deepest. Tigana was our province and the name of the royal city by the sea. The fairest city under Eanna's lights you would have heard it named. Or perhaps, perhaps only the second most fair.'" }, { "from": "human", "value": "A thread of something that seemed to genuinely long to become laughter was in his voice." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Laughter and love together. For the first time Devin turned to look up at him.\n\nAlessan said, 'If you were to have spoken with those from inland and south, in the city where the River Sperion, descending from the mountain, begins its run westward to find the sea, you would have heard it said that second way. For we were always proud, and there was always rivalry between the two cities.'" }, { "from": "human", "value": "In the end, hard as he tried, his voice could only carry loss." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "'You were born in that inland city, Devin, and so was I. We are children of that high valley and of the silver running of that mountain river. We were born in Avalle. In Avalle of the Towers.'" }, { "from": "human", "value": "There was music in Devin's mind again, with that name, but this time it was different from the bells he'd heard before." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "This time it was a music that took him back a long way, all the way to his father and his childhood.\n\nHe said, 'You do know the words then, don't you?'\n\n'Of course I do,' said Alessan gently.\n\n'Please?' Devin asked." }, { "from": "human", "value": "But it was Catriana who answered him, in the voice a young mother might have used, rocking her child to sleep on an evening long ago:" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Springtime morning in Avalle\n\nAnd I don't care what the priests say:\n\nI'm going down to the river today\n\nOn a springtime morning in Avalle." }, { "from": "human", "value": "When I'm all grown up, come what may," }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "I'll build a boat to carry me away\n\nAnd the river will take it to Tigana Bay\n\nAnd the sea even further from Avalle.\n\nBut wherever I wander, by night or by day," }, { "from": "human", "value": "Where water runs swiftly or high trees sway," }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "My heart will carry me back and away\n\nTo a dream of the towers of Avalle.\n\nA dream of my home in Avalle.\n\nThe sweet sad words to the tune he'd always known drifted down to Devin, and with them came something else." }, { "from": "human", "value": "A sense of loss so deep it almost drowned the light grace of Catriana's song." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "No breaking waves now, or trumpets along the blood: only the waters of longing. A longing for something taken away from him before he'd even known it was his—taken so completely, so comprehensively he might have lived his whole life through without ever knowing it was gone.\n\nAnd so Devin wept as Catriana sang. Small boys, young-looking for their age, learned very early in northern Asoli how risky it was to cry where someone might see." }, { "from": "human", "value": "But something too large for Devin to deal with had overtaken him in the forest tonight." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "If he understood properly what Alessan had just said, this song was one his mother would have sung to him.\n\nHis mother whose life had been ripped away by Brandin of Ygrath. He bowed his head, though not to shield the tears, and listened as Catriana finished that bitter-sweet cradle song: a song of a child defying orders and authority, even when young, who was self-reliant enough to want to build a ship alone and brave enough to want to sail it into the wideness of the world, never turning back. Nor ever losing or forgetting the place where it all began." }, { "from": "human", "value": "A child very much as Devin saw himself." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Which was one of the reasons he wept. For he had been made to lose and forget those towers, he'd been robbed of any dream he himself might ever have had of Avalle. Or Tigana on its bay.\n\nSo his tears followed one another downward in darkness as he mourned his mother and his home." }, { "from": "human", "value": "And in the shadows of that wood not far from Astibar those two griefs fused to each other in Devin and became welded in the forge of his heart with what memory meant to him and the loss of memory: and out of that blazing something took shape in Devin that was to change the running of his life line from that night." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He dried his eyes on his sleeve and looked up. No one spoke. He saw that Baerd was looking at him. Very deliberately Devin held up his left hand, the hand of the heart. Very carefully he folded his third and fourth fingers down so that what showed was a simulacrum of the shape of the Peninsula of the Palm." }, { "from": "human", "value": "The position for taking an oath." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Baerd lifted his right hand and made the same gesture. They touched fingertips together, Devin's small palm against the other man's larger, calloused one.\n\nDevin said, 'If you will have me I am with you. In the name of my mother who died in that war I swear I will not break faith with you.'" }, { "from": "human", "value": "'Nor I with you,' said Baerd." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "'In the name of Tigana gone.'\n\nThere was a rustling as Alessan sank to his knees beside them. 'Devin, I should be cautioning you,' he said soberly. 'This is not a thing in which to move too fast." }, { "from": "human", "value": "You can be one with our cause without having to break your life apart to come with us.'" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "'He has no choice,' Catriana murmured, moving nearer on the other side. 'Tomasso bar Sandre will name you both to the torturers tonight or tomorrow. I'm afraid the singing career of Devin d'Asoli may be over just as it truly begins.' She looked down on the three men, her eyes unreadable in the darkness." }, { "from": "human", "value": "'It is over,' Devin said quietly." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "'It ended when I learned my name.' Catriana's expression did not change; he had no idea what she was thinking.\n\n'Very well,' said Alessan. He held up his own left hand, two fingers down." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Devin met it with his right." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Alessan hesitated. 'An oath in your mother's name is stronger for me than you could have guessed,' he said.\n\n'You knew her?'\n\n'We both did,' Baerd said quietly. 'She was ten years older than us, but every adolescent boy in Tigana was a little in love with Micaela." }, { "from": "human", "value": "And most of the grown men too, I think.'" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Another new name, and all the hurt that came with it. Devin's father had never spoken it. His sons had never even known their mother's name. There were more avenues to sorrow in this night than Devin could have imagined." }, { "from": "human", "value": "'We all envied and admired your father more than I can tell you,' Alessan added." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "'Though I was pleased that an Avalle man won her in the end. I can remember when you were born, Devin. My father sent a gift to your naming day. I don't remember what it was.'" }, { "from": "human", "value": "'You admired my father?' Devin said, stunned." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Alessan heard that and his voice changed. 'Do not judge him by what he became. You only knew him after Brandin smashed a whole generation and their world. Ending their lives or blighting their souls." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Your mother was dead, Avalle fallen, Tigana gone." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He had fought and survived both battles by the Deisa.' Above them Catriana made a small sound.\n\n'I never knew,' Devin protested. 'He never told us any of that.'" }, { "from": "human", "value": "There was a new ache inside him. So many avenues." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "'Few of the survivors spoke of those days,' Baerd said.\n\n'Neither of my parents did,' said Catriana awkwardly. 'They took us as far away as they could, to a fishing village here in Astibar down the coast from Ardin, and never spoke a word of any of this.'\n\n'To shield you,' Alessan said gently." }, { "from": "human", "value": "His palm was still touching Devin's." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "It was smaller than Baerd's. 'A great many of the parents who managed to survive fled so that their children might have a chance at a life unmarred by the oppression and the stigma that bore down—that still bear down—upon Tigana. Or Lower Corte as we must name it now.'\n\n'They ran away,' said Devin stubbornly." }, { "from": "human", "value": "He felt cheated, deprived, betrayed." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Alessan shook his head. 'Devin, think. Don't judge yet: think. Do you really imagine you learned that tune by chance? Your father chose not to burden you or your brothers with the danger of your heritage, but he set a stamp upon you—a tune, wordless for safety—and he sent you out into the world with something that would reveal you, unmistakably, to anyone from Tigana, but to no one else." }, { "from": "human", "value": "I do not think it was chance." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "No more than Catriana's mother giving her daughter a ring that marked her to anyone born where she was born.'\n\nDevin glanced back. Catriana held out her hand for him to see. It was dark, but his eyes had adjusted to that, and he could make out a strange, twining shape upon the ring: a man, half human, half creature of the sea. He swallowed.\n\n'Will you tell me of him?'" }, { "from": "human", "value": "he asked, turning back to Alessan. 'Of my father?'" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Of stolid, dour Garin, grim farmer in a wet grey land. Who had, it now appeared, come from bright Avalle of the towers in the southern highlands of Tigana and who had, in his youth, wooed and won a woman beloved of all who saw her. Who had fought and lived through two terrible battles by a river and who had—if Alessan was right in his last conjecture—very deliberately sent out into the world his one quick, imaginative child capable of finding what he seemed to have found tonight.\n\nWho had also, Devin abruptly realized, almost certainly lied when he said he'd forgotten the words to the cradle song." }, { "from": "human", "value": "It was all suddenly very hard." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "'I will tell you what I know of him, and gladly,' Alessan said. 'But not tonight, for Catriana is right and we must get ourselves away before dawn. Right now I will swear faith with you as Baerd has done. I accept your oath." }, { "from": "human", "value": "You have mine. You are as kin to me from now until the ending of my days.'" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Devin turned to look up at Catriana. 'Will you accept me?'\n\nShe tossed her hair. 'I don't have much choice, do I?'" }, { "from": "human", "value": "she said carelessly. 'You seem to have entangled yourself rather thoroughly here.'" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "She lowered her left hand though as she spoke, two fingers curled. Her fingers met his own with a light, cool touch.\n\n'Be welcome,' she said. 'I swear I will keep faith with you, Devin di Tigana.'" }, { "from": "human", "value": "'And I with you." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "I'm sorry about this morning,' Devin offered.\n\nHer hand withdrew and her eyes flashed; even by starlight he could see it. 'Oh yes,' she said sardonically, 'I'm sure you are. It was very clear, all along, how regrettable you found the experience!'" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Alessan snorted with amusement." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "'Catriana, my darling,' he said, 'I just forbade him to mention any details of what happened. How do I enforce that if you bring them up yourself?'\n\nWithout the faintest trace of a smile Catriana said, 'I am the aggrieved party here, Alessan. You don't enforce anything on me." }, { "from": "human", "value": "The rules are not the same.'" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Baerd chuckled suddenly. 'The rules,' he said, 'have not been the same since you joined us. Why indeed should this be any different?'\n\nCatriana tossed her head again but did not deign to reply.\n\nThe three men stood up." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Devin flexed his knees to relieve the stiffness of sitting so long in one position." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "'Ferraut or Tregea?' Baerd asked. 'Which border?'\n\n'Ferraut,' Alessan said. 'They'll have me placed as Tregean as soon as Tomasso talks—poor man. If I'd been thinking clearly I would have shot him as they rode by.'\n\n'Oh, very clear thinking, that,' Baerd retorted." }, { "from": "human", "value": "'With twenty soldiers surrounding him." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "You would have had us all in chains in Astibar by now.'\n\n'You would have deflected my arrow,' Alessan said wryly.\n\n'Is there a chance he won't speak?' Devin interjected awkwardly. 'I'm thinking about Menico, you see. If I'm named...'" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Alessan shook his head." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "'Everyone talks under torture,' he said soberly. 'Especially if sorcery is involved. I'm thinking about Menico too, but there isn't anything we can do about it, Devin. It is one of the realities of the life we live." }, { "from": "human", "value": "There are people put at risk by almost everything we do." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "I wish,' he added, 'that I knew what had happened in that lodge.'\n\n'You wanted to check it,' Catriana reminded him. 'Can we afford the time?'\n\n'I did, and yes, I think we can,' said Alessan crisply." }, { "from": "human", "value": "'There remains a piece missing in all of this." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "I still don't know how Sandre d'Astibar could have expected me to be the—'\n\nHe stopped there. Except for the drone of the cicadas and the rustling leaves it was very quiet in the woods. The trialla had gone. Alessan abruptly raised one hand and pushed it roughly through his hair." }, { "from": "human", "value": "He shook his head." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "'Do you know,' he said to Baerd, in what was almost a conversational tone, 'how much of a fool I can be at times? It was in the palm of my hand all along!' His voice changed. 'Come on—and pray we are not too late!'\n\nThe fires had both died down in the Sandreni lodge." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Only the stars shone above the clearing in the woods." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The cluster of Eanna's Diadem was well over west, following the moons. A nightingale was singing, as if in answer to the trialla of before, as the four of them approached. In the doorway Alessan hesitated for a moment then shrugged his shoulders in a gesture Devin already recognized. Then he pushed open the door and walked through." }, { "from": "human", "value": "By the red glow of the embers they looked—with eyes accustomed by now to darkness—on the carnage within." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The coffin still rested on its trestles, although splintered and knocked awry. Around it though, lay dead men who had been alive when they left this room. The two younger Sandreni. Nievole, a quiver of arrows in his throat and chest." }, { "from": "human", "value": "The body of Scalvaia d'Astibar." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Then Devin made out Scalvaia's severed head in a black puddle of blood a terrible distance away and he fought to control the lurch of sickness in his gorge.\n\n'Oh, Morian,' Alessan whispered. 'Oh, Lady of the Dead, be gentle to them in your Halls. They died dreaming of freedom and before their time.'" }, { "from": "human", "value": "'Three of them did,' came a harsh, desiccated voice from deep in one of the armchairs. '" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The fourth should have been strangled at birth.'\n\nDevin jumped half a foot, his heart hammering with shock.\n\nThe speaker rose and stood beside the chair, facing them. He was entirely hidden in shadow." }, { "from": "human", "value": "'I thought you would come back,' he said." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The sixth man, Devin realized, struggling to understand, straining to make out the tall, gaunt form by the faint glow of the embers.\n\nAlessan seemed quite unruffled. 'I'm sorry I kept you waiting then,' he said. 'It took me too long to riddle this through." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Will you allow me to express my sorrow for what has happened?'" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He paused. 'And my respect for you, my lord Sandre.'\n\nDevin's jaw dropped open as if unhinged. He snapped it shut so hard he hurt his teeth; he hoped no one had seen. Events were moving far too fast for him." }, { "from": "human", "value": "'I will accept the first,' said the gaunt figure in front of them." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "'I do not deserve your respect though, nor that of anyone else. Once perhaps; not any more. You are speaking to an old vain fool—exactly as the Barbadian named me. A man who spent too many years alone, tangled in his own spun webs." }, { "from": "human", "value": "You were right in everything you said before about carelessness." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "It has cost me three sons tonight. Within a month, less probably, the Sandreni will be no more.\n\nThe voice was dry and dispassionate, objectively damning, devoid of self-pity. The tone of a judge in some dark hall of final adjudication." }, { "from": "human", "value": "'What happened?' Alessan asked quietly." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "'The boy was a traitor.' Flat, uninflected, final.\n\n'Oh, my lord,' Baerd exclaimed. 'Family?'\n\n'My grandson. Gianno's boy.'\n\n'Then his soul is cursed,' Baerd said, quiet and fierce." }, { "from": "human", "value": "'He is in Morian's custody now, and she will know how to deal with him." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "May he be trammelled in darkness until the end of time.'\n\nThe old man seemed not to have even heard. 'Taeri killed him,' he murmured, wonderingly. 'I had not thought he was brave enough, or so quick." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Then he stabbed himself, to deny them the pleasure or whatever they might have learned of him." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "I had not thought he was so brave,' he repeated absently.\n\nThrough the thick shadows Devin looked at the two bodies by the smaller fire. Uncle and nephew lay so close to each other they seemed almost intertwined on the far side of the coffin. The empty coffin.\n\n'You said you waited for us,' Alessan murmured." }, { "from": "human", "value": "'Will you tell me why?'" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "'For the same reason you came back.' Sandre moved for the first time, stiffly making his way to the larger fire. He seized a small log and threw it on the guttering flame. A shower of sparks flew up." }, { "from": "human", "value": "He nursed it, poking with the iron until a tongue of flame licked free of the ash bed." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The Duke turned and now Devin could see his white hair and beard, and the bony hollows of his cheeks. His eyes were set deep in their sockets, but they gleamed with a cold defiance.\n\n'I am here,' Sandre said, 'and you are here because it goes on. It goes on whatever happens, whoever dies." }, { "from": "human", "value": "While there is breath to be drawn and a heart with which to hate." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "My quest and your own. Until we die they go on.'\n\n'You were listening, then,' said Alessan. 'From in the coffin." }, { "from": "human", "value": "You heard what I said?'" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "'The drug had worn off by sundown. I was awake before we reached the lodge. I heard everything you said and a great deal of what you chose not to say,' the Duke replied, straightening, a chilly hauteur in his voice. 'I heard what you named yourself, and what you chose not to tell them." }, { "from": "human", "value": "But I know who you are.'" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He took a step towards Alessan. He raised a gnarled hand and pointed it straight at him.\n\n'I know exactly who you are, Alessan bar Valentin, Prince of Tigana!'\n\nIt was too much." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Devin's brain simply gave up trying to understand." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Too many pieces of information were coming at him from too many different directions, contradicting each other ferociously. He felt dizzy, overwhelmed. He was in a room where only a little while ago he had stood among a number of men. Now four of them were dead, with a more brutal violence than he had ever thought to come upon." }, { "from": "human", "value": "At the same time, the one man he'd known to be dead—the man whose mourning rites he had sung that very morning—was the only man of Astibar left alive in this lodge." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "If he was of Astibar!\n\nFor if he was, how could he have just spoken the name of Tigana, given what Devin had just learned in the wood? How could he have known that Alessan was—and this, too, Devin fought to assimilate—a Prince? The son of that Valentin who had slain Stevan of Ygrath and so brought Brandin's vengeance down upon them all." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Devin simply stopped trying to put it all together." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He set himself to listen and look—to absorb as much as he could into the memory that had never failed him yet—and to let understanding come after, when he had time to think.\n\nSo resolved, he heard Alessan say, after a blank silence more than long enough to reveal the degree of his own surprise and wonder: 'Now I understand. Finally I understand. My lord, I thought you always a giant among men. From the first time I saw you at my first Triad Games twenty-three years ago." }, { "from": "human", "value": "You are even more than I took you for." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "How did you stay alive? How have you hidden it from the two of them all these years?'\n\n'Hidden what?' It was Catriana, her voice so angry and bewildered it immediately made Devin feel better: he wasn't the only one desperately treading water here.\n\n'He is a wizard,' Baerd said flatly." }, { "from": "human", "value": "There was another silence." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Then, 'The wizards of the Palm are immune to spells not directed specifically at them,' Alessan added. 'This is true of all magic-users, wherever they come from, however they find access to their power. For this reason, among others, Brandin and Alberico have been hunting down and killing wizards since they came to this peninsula.'\n\n'And they have been succeeding because being a wizard has—alas!—nothing to do with wisdom or even simple common sense,' Sandre d'Astibar said in a corrosive voice." }, { "from": "human", "value": "He turned and jabbed viciously at the fire with the iron poker." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The blaze caught fully this time and roared into red light.\n\n'I survived,' said the Duke, 'simply because no one knew. It involved nothing more complex than that. I used my power perhaps five times in all the years of my reign—and always cloaked under someone else's magic." }, { "from": "human", "value": "And I have done nothing with magic, not a flicker, since the sorcerers arrived." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "I didn't even use it to feign my death. Their power is stronger than ours. Far stronger. It was clear from the time each of them came. Magic was never as much a part of the Palm as it was elsewhere. We knew this." }, { "from": "human", "value": "All the wizards knew this." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "You would have thought they would apply their brains to that knowledge, would you not? What good is a finding spell, or a fledgling mental arrow if it leads one straight to a Barbadian death-wheel in the sun?' There was an acid, mocking bitterness in the old Duke's voice.\n\n'Or one of Brandin's,' Alessan murmured." }, { "from": "human", "value": "'Or Brandin's,' Sandre echoed." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "'It is the one thing those two carrion birds have agreed upon—other than the dividing line running down the Palm—that theirs shall be the only magic in this land.'\n\n'And it is,' said Alessan, 'or so nearly so as to be the same thing. I have been searching for a wizard for a dozen years or more.'\n\n'Alessan!' Baerd said quickly." }, { "from": "human", "value": "'Why?' the Duke asked in the same moment." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "'Alessan!' Baerd repeated, more urgently.\n\nThe man Devin had just learned to be the Prince of Tigana looked over at his friend and shook his head. 'Not this one, Baerd,' he said cryptically. 'Not Sandre d'Astibar.'\n\nHe turned back to the Duke and hesitated, choosing his words." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Then, with an unmistakable pride, he said, 'You will have heard the legend." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "It happens to be true. The line of the Princes of Tigana, all those in direct descent, can bind a wizard to them unto death.'\n\nFor the first time a gleam of curiosity, of an actual interest in something appeared in Sandre's hooded eyes. 'I do know that story." }, { "from": "human", "value": "The only wizard who ever guessed what I was after I came into my own magic warned me once to be wary of the Princes of Tigana." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He was an old man, and doddering by then. I remember laughing. You actually claim that what he said was true?'\n\n'It was. I am certain it still is. I have had no chance to test it though." }, { "from": "human", "value": "It is our primal story: Tigana is the chosen province of Adaon of the Waves." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The first of our Princes, Rahal, being born of the god by that Micaela whom we name as mortal mother of us all. And the line of the Princes has never been broken.'\n\nDevin felt a complex stir of emotions working within himself. He didn't even try to enumerate how many things were tangling themselves in his heart." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Micaela. He listened and watched, and set himself to remember." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "And he heard Sandre d'Astibar laugh.\n\n'I know that story too,' the Duke said derisively. 'That hoary, enfeebled excuse for Tiganese arrogance. Princes of Tigana! Not Dukes, oh no. Princes!" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Descended of the god!'" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He thrust the poker towards Alessan. 'You will stand here tonight, now, among the stinking reality of the Tyrants and of these dead men and the world of the Palm today and spew that old lie at me? You will do that?'\n\n'It is truth,' said Alessan quietly, not moving." }, { "from": "human", "value": "'It is why we are what we are." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "It would have been a slight to the god for his descendants to claim a lesser title. The gift of Adaon to his mortal son could not be immortality—that, Eanna and Morian forbade. But the god granted a binding power over the Palm's own magic to his son, and to the sons and daughters of his son while a Prince or a Princess of Tigana lived in that direct line. If you doubt me and would put it to the test I will do as Baerd would have had me do and bind you with my hand upon your brow, my lord Duke." }, { "from": "human", "value": "The old tale is not to be lightly dismissed, Sandre d'Astibar." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "If we are proud it is because we have reason to be.'\n\n'Not any more,' the Duke said mockingly. 'Not since Brandin came!'\n\nAlessan's face twisted. He opened his mouth and closed it." }, { "from": "human", "value": "'How dare you!' Catriana snapped. Bravely, Devin thought." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Prince and Duke ignored her, rigidly intent on each other. Sandre's sardonic amusement gradually receded into the deep lines etched in his face. The bitterness remained, in eyes and stance and the pinched line of his mouth.\n\nAlessan said, 'I had not expected that from you." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Under all the circumstances.'" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "'You are in no position to have any idea what to expect from me,' the Duke replied, very low. 'Under all the circumstances.'\n\n'Shall we part company now then?'\n\nFor a long moment something lay balanced in the air between them, a process of weighing and resolution, complicated immeasurably by death and grief and rage and the stiff, reflexive pride of both men." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Devin, responding with his nerve-endings to the tension, found that he was holding his breath." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "'I would prefer not,' said Sandre d'Astibar finally. 'Not like this,' he added, as Devin drew breath again. 'Will you accept an apology from one who is sunken as low as he has ever been?'\n\n'I will,' said Alessan simply." }, { "from": "human", "value": "'And I would seek your counsel before we must, indeed, part ways for a time." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Your middle son was taken alive. He will name me and Devin both tomorrow morning if not tonight.'\n\n'Not tonight,' the Duke said, almost absently. 'Alberico apprehends no danger any more." }, { "from": "human", "value": "He will also be quite seriously debilitated by what happened here." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He will leave Tomasso until a time when he can enjoy what happens. When he is in a mood to... play.'\n\n'Tonight, tomorrow,' said Baerd, his blunt voice jarring the mood. 'It makes little difference." }, { "from": "human", "value": "He will talk. We must be away before he does.'" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "'Perhaps, perhaps not,' Sandre murmured in the same strangely detached voice. He looked at the four dead men on the floor. 'I wish I knew exactly what happened,' he said. 'Inside the coffin I could see nothing, but I can tell you that Alberico used a magic here tonight so strong it is still pulsating." }, { "from": "human", "value": "And he used it to save his own life." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Scalvaia did something, I don't know what, but he came very near.' He looked at Alessan. 'Near to giving Brandin of Ygrath dominion over the whole peninsula.'\n\n'You heard that?' Alessan said." }, { "from": "human", "value": "'You agree with me?'" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "'I think I always knew it to be true, and I know I succeeded in denying it within myself. I was so focused on my own enemy here in Astibar. I needed to hear it said, but once will be enough. Yes, I agree with you." }, { "from": "human", "value": "They must be taken down together.'" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Alessan nodded, and some of his own rigidly controlled tension seemed to ease away. He said, 'There are those who still think otherwise. I value your agreement.'\n\nHe glanced over at Baerd, smiling a little wryly, then back to the Duke." }, { "from": "human", "value": "'You mentioned Alberico's use of magic as if it should have a meaning now for us." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "What meaning then? We are ignorant in these matters.'\n\n'No shame. If you aren't a wizard you are meant to be ignorant.' Sandre smiled thinly. 'The meaning is straightforward though: there is such an overflow of magic spilling out from this room tonight that any paltry power of my own that I invoke will be completely screened. I think I can ensure that your names are not given to the torturers tomorrow.'" }, { "from": "human", "value": "'I see,' said Alessan, nodding slowly." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Devin did not see anything; he felt as if he were churning along in the turbulent wake of information. 'You can take yourself through space? You can go in there and bring him out?' Alessan's eyes were bright." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Sandre was shaking his head though." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He held up his left hand, all five fingers spread wide. 'I never chopped two fingers in the wizard's final binding to the Palm. My magic is profoundly limited. I can't say I regret it—I would never have been Duke of Astibar had I done so, given the prejudices and the laws governing wizards here—but it constrains what I am able to do." }, { "from": "human", "value": "I can go in there myself, yes, but I am not strong enough to bring someone else out." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "I can take him something though.'\n\n'I see,' said Alessan again, but in a different voice. There was a silence. He pushed a hand through his disordered hair." }, { "from": "human", "value": "'I am sorry,' he said at length, softly." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The Duke's face was expressionless. Above the white beard and the gaunt cheeks his eyes gave nothing away at all. Behind him the fire crackled, sparks snapping outward into the room.\n\n'I have a condition,' Sandre said." }, { "from": "human", "value": "'Which is?'" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "'That you allow me to come with you. I am now a dead man. Given to Morian. Here in Astibar I can speak to no one, achieve nothing. If I am to preserve any purpose now to the botched deception of my dying I must go with you." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Prince of Tigana, will you accept a feeble wizard in your entourage?" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "A wizard come freely, not bound by some legend?'\n\nFor a long time Alessan was silent, looking at the other man, his hands quiet at his sides. Then, unexpectedly, he grinned. It was like a flash of light, a gleam of warmth cracking the ice in the room." }, { "from": "human", "value": "'How attached are you,' he asked, in a quite unexpected tone of voice, 'to your beard and your white hair?'" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "A second later Devin heard a strange sound. It took him a moment to recognize that what he was hearing was the high, wheezing, genuine amusement of the Duke of Astibar.\n\n'Do with me what you will,' Sandre said as his mirth subsided. 'What will you do—tinge my locks red as the maid's?'" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Alessan shook his head." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "'I hope not. One of those manes is more than sufficient for a single company. I leave these matters to Baerd though. I leave a great many things to Baerd.'\n\n'Then I shall place myself in his hands,' Sandre said." }, { "from": "human", "value": "He bowed gravely to the yellow-haired man." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Baerd, Devin saw, did not look entirely happy. Sandre saw it too.\n\n'I will not swear an oath,' the Duke said to him. 'I swore one vow when Alberico came, and it is the last vow I shall ever swear." }, { "from": "human", "value": "I will say though that it shall be my endeavour for the rest of my days to ensure that you do not regret this." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Will that content you?'\n\nSlowly Baerd nodded. 'It will.'\n\nListening, Devin had an intuitive sense that this, too, was an exchange that mattered, that neither man had spoken lightly, or less than the truth of his heart. He glanced over just then at Catriana and discovered that she had been watching him." }, { "from": "human", "value": "She turned quickly away though, and did not look back." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Sandre said, 'I think I had best set about doing what I have said I would. Because of the screening of Alberico's magic I must go and return from this room, but I dare say you need not spend a night among the dead, however illustrious they are. Have you a camp in the woods? Shall I find you there?'" }, { "from": "human", "value": "The idea of magic was unsettling to Devin still, but Sandre's words had just given him an idea, his first really clear thought since they'd entered the lodge." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "'Are you sure you'll be able to stop your son from talking?' he asked diffidently.\n\n'Quite sure,' Sandre replied briefly.\n\nDevin's brow knit. 'Well then, it seems to me none of us is in immediate danger. Except for you, my lord." }, { "from": "human", "value": "You must not be seen.'" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "'Until Baerd's done with him,' Alessan interposed. 'But go on.'\n\nDevin turned to him. 'I'd like to say farewell to Menico and try to think of a reason to give for leaving. I owe him a great deal." }, { "from": "human", "value": "I don't want him to hate me.'" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Alessan looked thoughtful. 'He will hate you a little, Devin, even though he isn't that kind of man. What happened this morning is what a lifelong trouper like Menico dreams about. And no explanation you come up with is going to alter the fact that he needs you to make that dream a real thing now.'\n\nDevin swallowed. He hated what he was hearing, but he couldn't deny the truth of it." }, { "from": "human", "value": "A season or two of the fees Menico had said he could now charge would have let the old campaigner buy the inn in Ferraut he'd talked about for so many years." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The place where he'd always said he'd like to settle when the road grew too stern for his bones. Where he could serve ale and wine and offer a bed and a meal to old friends and new ones passing through on the long trails. Where he could hear and retell the gossip of the day and swap the old stories he loved. And where, on the cold winter nights, he could stake out a place by the fire and lead whoever happened to be there into and out of all the songs he knew." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Devin shoved his hands deep into the pockets of his breeches." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He felt awkward and sad. 'I just don't like disappearing on him. All three of us at once. We've got concerts tomorrow, too.'" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Alessan's mouth quirked. 'I do seem to recall that,' he said. 'Two of them.'" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "'Three,' said Catriana unexpectedly.\n\n'Three,' Alessan agreed cheerfully. 'And one the next day at the Woolguild Hall. I also have—it has just occurred to me—a substantial wager in The Paelion that I expect to win.'" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Which drew an already predictable growl from Baerd." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "'Do you seriously think the Festival of Vines is going to blithely proceed after what has occurred tonight? You want to go make music in Astibar as if nothing has happened? Music? I've been down this road with you before, Alessan. I don't like it.'" }, { "from": "human", "value": "'Actually, I'm quite certain the Festival will go on.'" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "It was Sandre. 'Alberico is cautious almost before he is anything else. I think tonight will redouble that in him. He will allow the people their celebrations, let those from the distrada scatter and go home, then slam down hard immediately after. But only on the three families that were here, I suspect." }, { "from": "human", "value": "It is, frankly, what I would do myself.'" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "'Taxes?' Alessan asked.\n\n'Perhaps. He raised them after the Canziano poisoning, but that was different. An actual assassination attempt in a public place. He didn't have much choice." }, { "from": "human", "value": "I think he'll narrow it this time—there will be enough bodies for his wheels among the three families here.'" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Devin found it unsettling how casually the Duke spoke of such things. This was his kin they were discussing. His oldest son, grandchildren, nephews, nieces, cousins—all to be fodder for Barbadian killing-wheels. Devin wondered if he would ever grow as cynical as this." }, { "from": "human", "value": "If what had begun tonight would harden him to that degree." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He tried to think of his brothers on a death-wheel in Asoli and found his mind flinching away from the very image. Unobtrusively he made the warding sign against evil.\n\nThe truth was, he was upset just thinking about Menico, and that was merely a matter of costing the man money, nothing more. People moved from troupe to troupe all the time." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Or left to start their own companies." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Or retired from the road into a business that offered them more security. There would be performers who would be expecting him to go on his own after his success this morning. That should have been a helpful thought, but it wasn't. Somehow Devin hated to make it appear as if they were right." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Something else occurred to him." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "'Won't it look a bit odd, too, if we disappear right after the mourning rites? Right after Alberico's unmasked a plot that was connected with them? We're sort of linked to the Sandreni now in a way. Should we draw attention to ourselves like that?" }, { "from": "human", "value": "It isn't as if our disappearance won't be noticed.'" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He said it, for some reason, to Baerd. And was rewarded a moment later with a brief, sober nod of acknowledgement.\n\n'Now that cloth I will buy,' Baerd said. 'That does make sense, though I'm sorry to say it.'" }, { "from": "human", "value": "'A good deal of sense,' Sandre agreed." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Devin fidgeted a little as he came under the scrutiny of those dark, sunken eyes. 'The two of you'—the Duke gestured at Devin and Catriana—'may yet redeem your generation for me.'\n\nThis time Devin refused to look at the girl. Instead his glance went over to the corner where Sandre's grandson lay by the second, dying fire, his throat slashed by a family blade." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Alessan broke the silence with a deliberate cough." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "'There is also,' he said in a curious tone, 'another argument entirely. Only those who have spent as many nights outdoors as I have can properly appreciate the depth—as it were—of my preference for a soft bed at night. In short,' he concluded with a grin, 'your eloquence has quite overcome me, Devin. Lead me back to Menico at the inn." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Even a bed shared with two syrenya-players who snore in marginal harmony is a serious improvement over cold ground beside Baerd's relative silence.'" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Baerd favoured him with a forbidding glare. One that Alessan appeared to weather quite easily. 'I will refrain,' Baerd said darkly, 'from a recitation of your own nocturnal habits. I will wait here alone for Duke Sandre to return." }, { "from": "human", "value": "We'll have to burn this lodge tonight, for obvious reasons." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "There's a body that will otherwise be missing when the servants come back in the morning. We'll meet the three of you by the cache three mornings from now, as early as you see fit to rise from your pillows. Assuming,' he added with heavy sarcasm, 'that soft city living doesn't prevent you from being able to find the cache.'\n\n'I'll find it if he gets lost,' Catriana said." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Alessan looked from one to the other of them, his expression wounded." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "'That isn't fair,' he protested. 'It is just the music. You both know that.'\n\nDevin hadn't. Alessan was still gazing at Baerd." }, { "from": "human", "value": "'You know it is only the music I'm going back for.'" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "'Of course I know that,' Baerd said softly. His expression changed. 'I'm only afraid that the music will kill us both one of these days.'\n\nIntercepting the look that passed between them then, Devin learned something new and sudden and unexpected—on a night when he'd already learned more things than he could easily handle—about the nature of bonding and about love.\n\n'Go,' said Baerd with a scowl, as Alessan still hesitated." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Catriana was already by the door." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "'We will meet you after the Festival. By the cache. Don't,' he added, 'expect to recognize us.'\n\nAlessan grinned suddenly, and a moment later Baerd allowed himself to smile as well. It changed his face a great deal." }, { "from": "human", "value": "He didn't, Devin realized, smile very often." }, { "from": "system", "value": "Next message should be approximately 1 sentence." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He was still thinking about that as he followed Alessan and Catriana out the door and into the darkness of the wood again." } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "expand on the story like Georgette Heyer would" }, { "from": "system", "value": "Produce a starting prompt please." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Lady Ombersley's hand dropped; Mr. Rivenhall turned sharply, a frown on his brow. His sister, casting him a look of burning reproach, ran across the room to her mother, and said, \"Give it to me, Mama! What right has Charles to burn my letters?\"\n\nLady Ombersley looked helplessly at her son, but he said nothing. Cecilia twitched the open sheet of paper from her mother's fingers, and clasped it to her palpitating bosom." }, { "from": "human", "value": "This did goad Mr. Rivenhall into speech." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"For God sake, Cecilia, let us have no play acting!\" he said.\n\n\"How dared you read my letter?\" she retorted.\n\n\"I did not read your letter! I gave it to Mama, and you will scarcely say that she had no right to read it!\"\n\nHer soft blue eyes swam with tears; she said in a low voice, \"It is all your fault! Mama would never—I hate you, Charles, I hate you!\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "He shrugged, and turned away." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Lady Ombersley said feebly, \"You should not talk so, Cecilia! You know it is quite improper in you to be receiving letters without my knowledge! I do not know what your papa would say if he heard of it.\"\n\n\"Papa!\" exclaimed Cecilia scornfully. \"No! It is Charles who delights in making me unhappy!\"\n\nHe glanced over his shoulder at her." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"It would be useless, I collect, to say that my earnest wish is that you should not be made unhappy.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "She returned no answer, but folded her letter with shaking hands, and bestowed it in her bosom, throwing a defiant look at him as she did so. It was met with one of contempt; Mr. Rivenhall propped his shoulders against the mantelshelf, dug his hands into his breeches pockets, and waited sardonically for what she might say next.\n\nShe dried her eyes instead, catching her breath on little sobs. She was a very lovely girl, with pale golden locks arranged in ringlets about an exquisitely shaped face, whose delicate complexion was at the moment heightened, not unbecomingly, by an angry flush." }, { "from": "human", "value": "In general, her expression was one of sweet pensiveness, but the agitation of the moment had kindled a martial spark in her eyes, and she was gripping her underlip between her teeth in a way that made her look quite vicious." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Her brother, cynically observing this, said that she should make a practice of losing her temper, since it improved her, lending animation to a countenance well enough in its way but a trifle insipid.\n\nThis unkind remark left Cecilia unmoved. She could hardly fail to know that she was much admired, but she was a very modest girl quite unappreciative of her own beauty, and would much have preferred to have been fashionably dark. She sighed, released her lip, and sat down on a low chair beside her Mama's sofa, saying in a more moderate tone: \"You cannot deny, Charles, that it is your doing that Mama has taken this—this unaccountable dislike to Augustus!\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Now, there,\" said Lady Ombersley earnestly, \"you are at fault, dearest, for I do not dislike him at all! Only I cannot think him an eligible husband!\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"I don't care for that!\" declared Cecilia. \"He is the only man for whom I could ever feel that degree of attachment which—In short, I beg you will abandon any notion you may have that I could ever entertain Lord Charlbury's extremely flattering proposal, for I never shall!\"\n\nLady Ombersley uttered a distressful but incoherent protest; Mr. Rivenhall said in his prosaic way, \"Yet you were not, I fancy, so much averse from Charlbury's proposal when it was first told you.\"\n\nCecilia turned her lambent gaze upon him, and answered, \"I had not then met Augustus.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Lady Ombersley appeared to be a good deal struck by the logic of this pronouncement, but her son was less impressionable." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He said, \"Don't waste these high flights on me, I beg of you! You have been acquainted with young Fawnhope any time these nineteen years!\"\n\n\"It was not the same,\" said Cecilia simply.\n\n\"That,\" said Lady Ombersley, in a judicial way, \"is perfectly true, Charles. I am sure he was the most ordinary little boy, and when he was up at Oxford he had the most dreadful spots, so that no one would have supposed he would grow into such an excessively handsome young man! But the time he spent in Brussels with Sir Charles Stuart improved him out of all knowledge! I own, I never should have known him for the same man!\"\n\n\"I have sometimes wondered,\" retorted Mr. Rivenhall, \"whether Sir Charles will ever be the same man again either! How Lady Lutterworth can have reconciled it with her conscience to have foisted upon a public man such a nincompoop to be his secretary I must leave it to herself to decide! All we are privileged to know is that your precious Augustus no longer fills that office! Or any other!\" he added trenchantly." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Augustus,\" said Cecilia loftily, \"is a poet. He is quite unfitted for the—the humdrum business of an ambassador's secretary.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"I do not deny it,\" said Mr. Rivenhall. \"He is equally unfitted to support a wife, my dear sister. Do not imagine that I will frank you in this folly, for I tell you now I will not! And do not delude yourself into believing that you will obtain my father's consent to this most imprudent match, for while I have anything to say you will not!\"\n\n\"I know well that it is only you who have anything to say in this house!\" cried Cecilia, large teardrops welling over her eyelids." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"I hope that when you have driven me to desperation you may be satisfied!\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "From the tightening of the muscles about his mouth it was to be seen that Mr. Rivenhall was making a praiseworthy effort to keep his none too amiable temper in check. His mother glanced anxiously up at him, but the voice in which he answered Cecilia was almost alarmingly even. \"Will you, my dear sister, have the goodness to reserve these Cheltenham tragedies for some moment when I am not within hearing? And before you carry Mama away upon the tide of all this rodomontade, may I be permitted to remind you that so far from being forced into an unwelcome marriage you expressed your willingness to listen to what you have yourself described as Lord Charlbury's very flattering offer?\"\n\nLady Ombersley leaned forward to take one of Cecilia's hands in hers, and to squeeze it compassionately." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Well, you know, my dearest love, that is quite true!\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "she said. \"Indeed, I thought you liked him excessively! You must not imagine that Papa or I have the least notion of compelling you to marry anyone whom you hold in aversion, for I am sure that such a thing would be quite shocking! And Charles would not do so either, would you, dear Charles?\"\n\n\"No, certainly not. But neither would I consent to her marriage with any such frippery fellow as Augustus Fawnhope!\"\n\n\"Augustus,\" announced Cecilia, putting up her chin, \"will be remembered long after you have sunk into oblivion!\"\n\n\"By his creditors? I don't doubt it. Will that compensate you for a lifetime spent in dodging duns?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Lady Ombersley could not repress a shudder." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Alas, my love, it is too true! You cannot know the mortification—but we will not speak of that!\"\n\n\"It is useless to speak to my sister of anything outside the covers of a novel from the lending library!\" said Charles. \"I might have supposed that she would be thankful, in the state to which this family has been reduced, to have been on the point of contracting even a respectable alliance! But no! She is offered not a respectable but a brilliant match, and she chooses to behave like any Bath miss, swooning and languishing over a poet! A poet! Good God, Mama, if the specimen of his talent which you were so ill advised as to read me—But I have no patience to argue further on that head! If you cannot prevail upon her to conduct herself in a manner worthy of her breeding she had better be sent down to Ombersley, to rusticate for a while, and see if that will bring her to her senses!\"\n\nWith this terrible threat he strode out of the room, leaving his sister to dissolve into tears, and his mother to recruit her strength through the medium of her vinaigrette." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Between sobs Cecilia animadverted for some moments on the cruelty of fate, which had saddled her with a brother who was as heartless as he was tyrannical, and parents who were totally unable to enter into her feelings." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Lady Ombersley, though sympathetic in the main, could not allow this to pass. Without taking it upon herself to answer for her husband's sensibilities, she assured Cecilia that her own were extremely nice, making it perfectly possible for her to appreciate the anguish of a forbidden love.\n\n\"When I was a girl, dearest, something of the same nature happened to me,\" she said, sighing. \"He was not a poet, of course, but I fancied myself very much in love with him. But it would not do, and in the end I was married to your papa, which was thought to be a splendid match, for in those days he had scarcely begun to run through his fortune, and—\" She broke off, realizing that these reminiscences were infelicitous." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"In short, Cecilia—and I should not be obliged to say this to you—persons of our order do not marry only to please themselves.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Cecilia was silenced, and could only hang down her head, dabbing at her eyes with an already damp handkerchief. She knew herself to have been a good deal indulged through the fondness of one parent and the cheerful indifference of the other, and was well aware that in discovering her inclination before permitting Lord Charlbury to address his suit to her Lady Ombersley had shown more consideration for her than would have been approved of by the greater part of her contemporaries. Cecilia might read novels, but she knew that the spirited behavior of her favorite heroines was not for her to imitate. She foresaw that she was doomed to spinster-hood; and this reflection was so melancholy that she drooped more than ever, and once more applied her handkerchief to her eyes." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Only think how happy your sister is!\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "said Lady Ombersley, in a heartening tone. \"I am sure nothing could be more gratifying than to see her in her own home, with her dear baby, and James so attentive and obliging, and—and everything just what one would wish! I declare I do not believe that any love match could have turned out better, not that I mean to say that Maria is not sincerely attached to James! But she had not met him above half-a-dozen times when he asked Papa's leave to speak to her, and her affections were not engaged. Naturally, she felt a strong degree of liking, or I should never— But Maria was such a good, pretty-behaved girl! She told me herself that she felt it to be her duty to accept such a respectable offer, with Papa in such difficulties, and four more of you to be provided for!\"\n\n\"Mama, I hope I am not an unnatural daughter, but I had rather be dead than married to James!\" declared Cecilia, raising her head." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"He thinks of nothing but hunting, and when they do not have company in the evening, he goes to sleep, and snores!\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Daunted by this disclosure, Lady Ombersley could find nothing to say for a minute or two. Cecilia blew her nose, and added, \"And Lord Charlbury is even older than James!\"\n\n\"Yes, but we do not know that he snores, my love,\" Lady Ombersley pointed out. \"Indeed, we may be almost certain that he does hot, for his manners are so very gentlemanlike!\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"A man who would contract the mumps,\" declared Cecilia, \"would do anything!\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Lady Ombersley saw nothing unreasonable in this pronouncement, nor was she surprised that his lordship's un-romantic behavior had given Cecilia a distaste for him. She had herself been sadly disappointed, for she had thought him a man of sense, certainly not one to be succumbing to childish ailments at inopportune moments. She could think of nothing to say to palliate his offense, and as Cecilia had apparently no further observations to make, silence reigned uneasily for a time. Cecilia presently broke it, asking rather listlessly whether it was true that her uncle had been in the house that afternoon." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Glad of an excuse to talk of more cheerful matters, Lady Ombersley at once told her of the treat in store for her, and had the satisfaction of seeing the cloud lift a little from her daughter's brow." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "It was not difficult to enlist Cecilia's sympathies on behalf of her cousin. She could scarcely envisage a more horrid fate than to be sent to stay for an indefinite period amongst relatives who were almost strangers, and warmly promised to do all that lay in her power to make Sophia feel herself at home in Berkeley Square. She could conjure up no very clear recollection of her cousin, for it had been some years since they had met; and although she had sometimes thought that to travel about Europe must be exciting, she had also suspected that it might also be extremely uncomfortable, and readily agreed with Lady Ombersley that such an unconventional existence was scarcely an ideal preparation for a London debut. The reflection that Sophia's arrival in Berkeley Square must mean some relaxation of the almost conventual life imposed upon the family by Charles's determination to economize sent her away to change her dress for dinner in a far happier frame of mind." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Four of the family sat down at the huge table in the dining room that evening, his lordship having decided to gratify his wife with one of his rare appearances at his own board." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He was the only unconstrained member of the party, for he had a happy disposition which made it possible for him to remain oblivious to the most blatant signs of discontent in his companions. In the same spirit he contrived with amazing ease to be cheerful under the humiliation of being little more than his son's pensioner. He had the greatest dread of being obliged to face unpleasantness, so he never allowed himself to think about unpleasant things, which answered very well, and could be supported in times of really inescapable stress by his genius for persuading himself that any disagreeable necessity forced upon him by his own folly, or by his son's overriding will, was the outcome of his own choice and wise decision. While Charles continued to render him the observances of filial respect he was able to forget that the reins of government had been wrenched out of his hands; and when, as sometimes happened, filial respect wore a little thin, at least these regrettable lapses did not last for long, and were not difficult for a man of his sanguine temperament to forget." }, { "from": "human", "value": "He bore his son no malice, though he thought him a dull dog; and provided that the luck was running his way, and he was not expected to bear any distasteful part in the management of his young family, he was very well satisfied with his lot." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He could hardly have been unaware of the dissension at present raging in his household, for a request from his wife that he should exercise parental authority over Cecilia had driven him posthaste to Newmarket not a fortnight before. But neither his son's heavy frown nor his daughter's reddened eyelids occasioned the slightest comment from him. He appeared to derive no small satisfaction from partaking of a lengthy meal in the company of an anxious wife, an injured daughter, and a glowering son. He said: \"Well, upon my soul, this is very pleasant, to be dining en famille in this cozy way! You may tell your cook, Lady Ombersley, that I like this way of serving a duck. I declare I don't get as good at White's!\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "After that he recounted the latest piece of society gossip, and inquired affably how his children had spent the day." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"If you mean me, Papa,\" said Cecilia, \"I have spent the day just as I spend every day. I shopped with Mama; I walked in the Park with my sisters and Miss Adderbury; and I practiced my music.\"\n\nHer tone did not suggest that she had found these amusements exhilarating, but Lord Ombersley said, \"Capital!\" and turned his attention to his wife. She told him of her brother's visit, and of his proposal that she should assume the charge of Sophia; and Lord Ombersley gave his gracious consent to the scheme, saying that nothing could be better, and congratulating his daughter upon her good luck in so unexpectedly acquiring a charming companion." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Charles, who was irritated enough by all this bland insensibility to sympathize with his sister, said dampingly that they had as yet no reason to suppose that Sophia would be in the least charming." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "But Lord Ombersley said that he entertained no doubts on that head, and added that they must all do their best to make their cousin's stay agreeable. After that he asked Charles whether he intended to go to the races next day. Charles, who knew that the races referred to were run under the patronage of the Duke of York, and would entail, for that jovial personage's cronies, several evenings spent at Oatlands, playing whist for pound points, looked more forbidding than ever, and said that he was going down to Ombersley Park for a few days.\n\n\"To be sure you are!\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "agreed his father cheerfully." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"I was forgetting that business about the South Hanger. Yes, yes, I wish you would attend to that, my boy!\"\n\n\"I will, sir,\" responded Mr. Rivenhall politely. He then glanced across the table at his sister, and asked, \"Do you care to accompany me, Cecilia? I am very willing to take you, if you should like it.\"\n\nShe hesitated. This might be an olive branch; on the other hand it might be a singularly futile attempt to wean her mind from thoughts of Mr. Fawnhope." }, { "from": "human", "value": "The reflection that Charles's absence from town might, with a little contrivance, make it possible for her to meet Mr. Fawnhope decided the matter." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "She shrugged, and said, \"No, I thank you. I do not know what I should do in the country at this season.\"\n\n\"Ride with me,\" suggested Charles.\n\n\"I prefer to ride in the Park. If you desire company, I wonder you do not invite the children to go with you. I am sure they would be delighted to oblige you.\"\n\n\"As you please,\" he replied indifferently." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Dinner at an end, Lord Ombersley withdrew from the family circle." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Charles, who had no evening engagement, accompanied his mother and sister to the drawing room, and, while Cecilia strummed idly at the piano, sat talking to his mother about Sophia's visit. Much to her relief, he seemed to be resigned to the necessity of holding at least one moderate party in Sophia's honor, but he strongly advised her against charging herself with the office of finding a suitable husband for her niece.\n\n\"Why my uncle, having allowed her to reach the age of— twenty, is it?—without bestirring himself in the matter,\" he said, \"must suddenly take it into his head to persuade you to undertake the business, is a matter beyond my comprehension.\"\n\n\"It does seem odd,\" agreed Lady Ombersley." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"I daresay he might not have realized how time flies, you know. Twenty! Why, she is almost upon the shelf! I must say, Horace has been most remiss! There could be no difficulty, I am sure, for she must be quite an heiress! Even if she were a very plain girl, which I do not for a moment suppose she can be, for you will allow Horace to be a handsome man, while poor dear Marianne was excessively pretty, though I don't expect that you can remember her—well, even if she were plain, it should be the easiest thing in the world to arrange a respectable match for her!\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Very easy, but you would do well to leave it to my uncle, ma'am\" was all he would say.\n\nAt this moment, the schoolroom party came into the room, escorted by Miss Adderbury, a little gray mouse of a woman, who had originally been hired to take charge of Lady Ombersley's numerous offspring when Charles and Maria had been adjudged old enough to leave Nurse's jealous care. It might have been supposed that a twenty-year residence in the household, under the aegis of a kindhearted mistress, and the encouragement of her pupils' affection, would long since have allayed Miss Adderbury's nervousness, but this had endured with the years. Not all her accomplishments—and these included, besides a sufficient knowledge of Latin to enable her to prepare little boys for school, the expert use of the globes, a thorough grounding in the theory of music, enough proficiency upon the pianoforte and the harp to satisfy all but the most exacting, and considerable talent in the correct use of water colors—made it possible for her to enter the drawing room without an inward shrinking, or to converse with her employer on terms of equality." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Those of her pupils who had outgrown her care found her shyness and her anxiety to please tiresome, but they could never forget her kindness to them in their schoolroom days, and always treated her with something more than civility." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "So Cecilia smiled at her, and Charles said, \"Well, Addy, and how are you today?\" which slight attentions made her grow pink with pleasure, and stammer a good deal in her replies.\n\nHer charges now numbered three only, for Theodore, the youngest son of the house, had lately been sent to Eton. Selina, a sharp-looking damsel of sixteen, went to sit beside her sister on the pianoforte stool; and Gertrude, bidding fair at twelve to rival Cecilia in beauty, and Amabel, a stout ten-year-old, cast themselves upon their brother, with loud professions of delight at seeing him, and rather louder reminders to him of a promise he had made them to play at lottery tickets the very next time he should spend an evening at home." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Miss Adderbury, kindly invited by Lady Ombersley to take a seat by the fire, made faint clucking noises in deprecation of this exuberance." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "She had no hope of being attended to, but was relieved to observe that Lady Ombersley was regarding the group about Charles with a fond smile. Lady Ombersley, in fact, was wishing that Charles, who was so popular with the children, could bring himself to be equally kind to the brother and sister nearer to him in age. There had been a rather painful scene at Christmas, when poor Hubert's Oxford debts had been discovered.\n\nThe card table had been set up, and Amabel was already counting out the mother-of-pearl fishes on its green baize cloth." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Cecilia begged to be excused from joining in the game, and Selina, who would have liked to play but always made a point of following her sister's example, said that she found lottery tickets a dead bore." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Charles paid no heed to this, but as he passed behind the music stool on his way to fetch the playing cards from a tall marquetry chest, bent to say something in Cecilia's ear. Lady Ombersley, anxiously watching, could not hear what it was, but she saw, her heart sinking, that it had the effect of making Cecilia color up to the roots of her hair. However, she rose from the stool, and went to the table, saying very well, she would play for a little while. So Selina relented too, and after a very few minutes both young ladies were making quite as much noise as their juniors, and laughing enough to make an impartial observer think that the one had forgotten her advanced years and the other her lacerated sensibilities." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Lady Ombersley was able to withdraw her attention from the table and to settle down to a comfortable chat with Miss Adderbury." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Miss Adderbury had already heard from Cecilia of Sophia's proposed visit and was all eagerness to discuss it with Lady Ombersley. She could enter into her ladyship's feelings upon the event, join her in sighing over the melancholy situation of a girl left motherless at five years old, agree with her plans for Sophia's accommodation and amusement, and, while deploring the irregularity of Sophia's upbringing, feel sure that she would be found to be a very sweet girl.\n\n\"I always know I can rely upon you, Miss Adderbury,\" said Lady Ombersley. \"Such a comfort to me!\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "In what way she was to be relied on Miss Adderbury had no idea, but she did not ask enlightenment, which was just as well, since her ladyship had no idea either, and had merely uttered the gratifying phrase from a general desire to please." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Miss Adderbury said, \"Oh, Lady Ombersley! So good—! So very obliging—!\" and was almost ready to burst into tears at the thought of so much confidence being placed in one so unworthy as herself. Most fervently did she hope that her ladyship would never discover that she had nursed a snake in her bosom; and dolefully did she regret the lack of resolution that made it impossible for her to withstand her dear Miss Rivenhall's coaxing. Only two days before she had permitted young Mr. Fawnhope to join the walking party in the Green Park, and, far worse, had made no objection to his falling behind with Cecilia." }, { "from": "human", "value": "It was true that Lady Ombersley had not mentioned Cecilia's unhappy infatuation to her, much less laid commands upon her to repulse Mr. Fawnhope, but Miss Adderbury was the daughter of a clergyman (mercifully deceased) of stern and rigid morals, and she knew that such quibbling merely aggravated her depravity." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "These reflections were interrupted by a further observation made by her ladyship in a lowered tone and with a glance cast toward the card table at the other end of the room. \"I am persuaded that I have no need to tell you, Miss Adderbury, that we have been made a trifle uneasy lately by one of those fancies which young females are subject to. I shall say no more, but you will appreciate how glad I shall be to welcome my niece. Cecilia has been too much alone, and her sisters are not of an age to be the companions which her cousin must be. I am hopeful that in striving to make dear Sophia feel at home amongst us—for the poor little thing will be sadly lost in the middle of such a large family, I daresay— and in showing her how she should go on in London, she will have enough to occupy her to give her thoughts another direction.\"\n\nThis view of the matter had not until now presented itself to Miss Adderbury, but she grasped it eagerly, and felt sure that all would happen precisely as Lady Ombersley anticipated. \"Oh, yes, indeed!\" she declared." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Nothing could be better! So condescending of your ladyship to—I had collected from dear Miss Rivenhall—but she is such a sweet girl I know she will devote herself to her less fortunate cousin! When do you expect Miss Stanton-Lacy, dear Lady Ombersley?\"" }, { "from": "system", "value": "Next message should be approximately 1 sentence." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Sir Horace was able to give me no very precise information,\" replied Lady Ombersley, \"but I understand that he expects to sail for South America almost immediately. No doubt my niece will be in London very shortly. Indeed, I shall speak to the housekeeper tomorrow about preparing a bedchamber for her.\"" } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Continue with the same vibes as Fletcher DeLancey" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Even after her father calmed, he would not hear of fighting lessons." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Rahel found a training house on the other side of town that offered them in the late afternoons and evenings, and presented the idea along with her promise that it would not interfere with school or her work in the shop.\n\n\"It's too expensive,\" her father said shortly.\n\n\"I can work it off.\"\n\n\"When? During the school day? You don't have time. I need you in the shop.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Father—\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Enough,\" he growled.\n\nShe asked her mother next. That was more promising, until her father found out she had gone around him. His anger was so hot that she cringed and turned away, afraid for the first time in her life that he might strike her." }, { "from": "human", "value": "When he told her to get out, she went." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "All the way across town.\n\nFor the better part of the afternoon, she stood outside the training house with her nose pressed to the large front window, watching luckier girls and boys do what she yearned to do. They were dressed in some kind of uniform—dark blue fitted pants and sleeveless shirts with white geometric designs—and ranged from a little older than her age to younger than her sister. She imagined herself wearing those clothes, listening to the instructor, learning how to use her body . . ." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Would you like to come in?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "asked a male voice behind her. Curiosity and kindness wafted onto her senses, one mildly spicy and the other softly comforting. She turned to find a very large man behind her, standing at ease but looking as if he could lift a four-seater skimmer with one hand.\n\n\"I can't,\" she said." }, { "from": "human", "value": "He tilted his head to one side." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Your legs don't work?\"\n\n\"No. I mean yes. I mean, my father won't let me.\" Cursing her stumbling tongue, she added, \"He says it's too expensive.\"\n\n\"Ah. But going inside is free.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "She could find no fault in that logic, and when he held up a hand, she met it in a palm touch." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The strand of kindness became a thick blanket, accompanied by the sort of mental stillness that she had previously sensed only from her mother when she was immersed in her metalwork.\n\n\"My name is Brasdo,\" he said. \"I teach here.\"\n\n\"Rahel.\"\n\n\"An honorable name. Do you know what it means?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "She shook her head and stuffed her hands in her trouser pockets." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"It means explorer. And here you are, exploring.\" He walked to the door, opened it, and stood aside.\n\nShe looked up at him, gauging his sincerity, because it made no sense that a grown-up would be so kind to a girl who couldn't pay. But he stood patiently, emanating that mental stillness, and she moved past him to stand in a wood-floored corridor." }, { "from": "human", "value": "A woman's voice filled the space." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Step. Twist. Elbows up! Stop. Are your upper arms level with the floor?\"\n\nThe air was warm and scented. She had expected stuffiness and the smell of sweat, but instead there was a faint hint of . . .\n\n\"Is that cinnoralis?\" she whispered as the woman continued her instruction." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Yes. We use different scents to evoke different mental states. Cinnoralis helps in relaxation. Winterbloom helps focus the mind.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He cited a few more, but she was thinking of her swords and the beautiful golden wood that was used for the scrolling on the blades. Cinnoralis.\n\nSurely it was a sign.\n\nHe led her into the large room she had been watching, taking her past the group of uniformed children to stand near the back wall. A bench ran the length of it, with shoes of all types tucked beneath." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Most were sandals, like hers." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "A row of hooks above the bench was festooned with packs and bags, some gaping open with hastily stuffed clothing spilling out.\n\n\"This is a beginning class,\" he murmured. \"They're learning the forms.\"\n\nShe watched, mesmerized by this new view and the children's synchronized movements." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"When do they fight? The class before this one, they were fighting.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Is that what you think we teach?\"\n\nThe question meant she had somehow gotten it wrong. She shrugged.\n\n\"We teach students to understand their bodies,\" he said. \"To learn how to channel their mental energy. Later, we teach the dance of combat, but it's not fighting. Fighting is about anger. It usually involves a loss of control. That is not what we want.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "She remembered her father's anger, and the way he had growled at her to get out." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "No, that was not what she wanted. She wanted to be calm and tranquil, like Brasdo. Like her mother when she was lost inside her craft. Like the woman at the front of the room, radiating stillness as she led fifteen children with nothing more than her voice." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Brasdo touched her sleeve and brought her through a door in the back wall." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Now speaking in a normal tone, he showed her the changing room, the showers, the office, and an airy, well-lit room with no furnishings other than enormous potted plants. It was called the centering room, she learned. He pulled a rolled-up mat from a grid of cubbyholes built into one wall, laid it on the floor beneath a plant with broad leaves as long as her leg, and showed her several different positions used to center mind and body.\n\n\"When your mind is a still pool, you can see beneath its surface,\" he said." }, { "from": "human", "value": "None of this was what she had expected when she watched the earlier class." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "She didn't understand all of it, but she liked the way Brasdo made her feel. She liked this space, and the calm drone of the woman teaching in the front room.\n\n\"We sometimes give scholarships,\" Brasdo said when they stood once more in the doorway between the training room and the corridor. \"They're worth a cycle of classes.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "The class had ended, and the children were noisily gathering their packs and filing through to the changing room." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Their shoes remained behind, still tucked beneath the bench.\n\nRahel imagined herself among them, laughing and chattering as she changed her clothes.\n\n\"How do I qualify?\"\n\n\"You already did.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"I did?\" She had missed something important." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"You listen. You pay attention. You ask thoughtful questions. That's what we want in our students.\" He pulled a reader card from the pouch at his belt, tapped it open, and offered it. \"Fill out your name and address here. Do you have a com code yet?\"\n\nShe nearly fumbled it, unable to believe he was just handing over her dream." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"No, but I can give you the code for our shop.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"That will do.\"\n\nHe rolled up the reader card when she finished and fixed her with a serious look. \"We need one more thing before you can start. Permission from your parents.\"\n\nHer heart sank, but before she could respond, he bent closer to her and said softly, \"It's free. If your father's only objection was the expense, then we've just taken care of that.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Was it his only objection?" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Or was it just the first?\n\nWhen she returned home, her father berated her for being absent from the shop. Her comment that she had only done what he wanted was not well received, but something had changed while she'd toured the training house. The anger that had frightened her earlier held no power now." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Once his lecture ran out, he pushed a duster in her hand and ordered her to clean all three rooms." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Dusting was a child's job. It was a punishment intended to shame, but she refused to allow that. Instead, she lost herself in the mindless activity, imagining her mind as a still pool, just as Brasdo had said.\n\nAs always, she left her beloved wooden swords for last." }, { "from": "human", "value": "They had recently been joined by a pair of ceremonial daggers made by the same artist, but she didn't think the daggers held the same majesty as the swords." }, { "from": "system", "value": "Your next one should be approximately one sentence." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Someday,\" she whispered to the last sword." } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "The user will write a bit then you need to write around 4 sentences continuing directly from the user's text. Try to mimic the style of Fletcher DeLancey.Produce 4 sentences using the prose and structure of Fletcher DeLancey every time its your turn using what the user wrote as a seed." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Having learned from her earlier mistake, Rahel went to her mother first and emphasized the class's focus on mental training." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Will it interfere with your schoolwork?\" her mother asked.\n\n\"No.\"\n\n\"Shop work?\"\n\n\"No.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Then I see no reason why you shouldn't go.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "She threw herself into her mother's arms. \"Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!\"\n\nHer mother squeezed tightly, then pulled back and brushed Rahel's hair away from her face. \"Remember your place,\" she said." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"It's good to try new things, but you must always remember your place.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"I will.\" She didn't understand, but she would have promised anything.\n\nThe next half cycle was the best of her life. The training house became her second home, its students her friends, its instructors her second set of parents. In the deep, dark, secretive part of her heart, she thought she loved Brasdo more than her real father." }, { "from": "human", "value": "He was unfailingly kind, even when she made mistakes, and never insisted that she give up her dreams." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He taught her to understand her body in a way she had never even considered. She reveled in the power that came from controlling both it and her mind, and spent as much time as she could in the centering room. Her home held five people, including a noisy younger sister, and the shop was never a place where she could be still. Here, on a mat beneath the spreading leaves of a tropical plant, she found comfort and a sense of peace that became addictive." }, { "from": "human", "value": "She read every book on warriors, strategy, behavioral manipulation, and the Truth and the Path that she could get her hands on." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The books showed many ways a warrior could live besides serving in the Guards, and the role that captured her attention above all others was that of explorer. It was her name, after all. She had not realized that Whitesun, the big harbor city west of her village, was the embarkation point for all of Alsea's most famous voyages of exploration.\n\nFantasies of swinging a sword in combat shifted to fantasies of standing on the deck of a pitching ship, riding the waves and mapping the coastlines of the two continents." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Instead of an impractical sword, her imaginary self now wore a pair of daggers sheathed at her belt." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "She would use them to sever tangled knots of rigging and save a Mariner from drowning, or drive one into the top of a sail and use it to slow her descent all the way to the deck while fighting off pirates.\n\nFollowing this new line of study, she learned that warriors were still exploring, though the coastlines had long since been mapped and pirates were mostly a thing of the past. Now, the explorers mapped the ocean floor, dived the depths in ever more dangerous feats of daring, found new fishing grounds, and helped catalogue the strange animals that inhabited the islands scattered across Alsea's vast ocean. They acted as guides and protectors for the scholars who also pursued exploration but lacked the ability to save themselves when things turned bad." }, { "from": "human", "value": "She envisioned herself using a dagger to hold off one of the aggressive island predators she had read about, saving a scholar who looked at her with admiring eyes afterward." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "She would be both explorer and protector.\n\nThe next time her father wasn't looking, she went into the shop's back room and examined the current set of inlaid wooden daggers with newly appreciative eyes. The swords were still her greatest love, so majestic and beautiful, but these daggers had a different sort of beauty. She tucked one into her waistband and felt the length of it along her skin." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Yes, this was what she would have on her ship." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Easy to pack, easy to carry, and much easier to learn to use. The best sword-masters began their training when they were younger than her sister. She was already too old.\n\nWhen she went upstairs at the end of the work shift, her father stood in her bedroom doorway with his arms crossed over his chest." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Did you forget about the shop vidcams?\" he asked." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Her stomach turned to stone. She had only worried about him catching her in person.\n\n\"Those daggers are worth almost as much as the swords. And you shove them in your pants like they're toys?\" He uncrossed his arms and took a step forward." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Your obsession is getting out of hand. You need to remember who you are. Since you seem to be having a hard time with that, I've helped you by getting rid of those books.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Horrified, she pushed past him into her room and found empty space where her exploration books had been. \"Those came from the library!\"\n\n\"Then you'd better work harder so you can pay the library back.\"\n\n\"Why?\" she shouted." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Why is it only my dreams you have to crush? Why do you hate me that much?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "His brief flicker of sorrow stung her senses, but was quickly swallowed by the too-familiar anger. \"I would eagerly support your dreams if you would get your head out of the clouds and be realistic. There are dreams, and then there are fantasies. Children get them confused, but you're old enough to know better.\" As he walked away, he threw one parting order over his shoulder. \"Grow up!\"\n\n\"I am growing up,\" she whispered." }, { "from": "human", "value": "And he had not denied her accusation." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "She threw herself on the bed and wept in a storm of despair, remembering a time when she had never doubted her father's love. It had been a constant warmth to her senses, accompanied by his smiles and his quiet lessons in the shop, but that had been before. Before she had dreams he didn't agree with. Before she stopped being the perfect child." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Before she developed a mind of her own." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Brasdo liked her the way she was. He didn't expect her to be different, didn't put a price tag on his affection. Even when she wasn't perfect, he didn't shout at her. He would never throw away her library books and tell her to pay for them." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Why can't he be my father?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "she cried into her pillow.\n\nHome was never the same after that. She felt like a stranger in the family. Her brother thought she was being ridiculous, and her sister didn't understand any of it." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Sometimes Rahel envied her—she had shown a talent for fine metalwork at an early age, and was already producing wares that her father proudly sold." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Everyone knew what they wanted to be; everyone was doing what they were meant to.\n\nEveryone but her.\n\nThe training house became her true home, and she spent as much time there as she dared. She even volunteered to sweep the floors and clean the mats, just to have an excuse to stay longer." }, { "from": "human", "value": "But she was careful to never impinge on her duties in the shop." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "She was determined to do exactly what her father asked of her, so he would have no excuse not to continue her classes when her scholarship ran out. The shop was doing well, and the classes weren't that expensive. To make it certain, she told her mother that she wanted only one thing for her fifteenth birth anniversary. Just one thing.\n\nOn the night of her celebration, she opened the last gift and found a purple half cape instead of the class vouchers she had expected." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"It's for your inscription,\" her father said." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"We're going to Whitesun next moon.\"\n\nAll skill at controlling her mind slipped away as if the past cycle had never been. \"Why didn't you give me what I asked for? All I wanted was to keep going!\"\n\n\"I'm sorry, Rahel,\" her mother said." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"But you did the one thing we were most afraid of. You forgot your place.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"I did not!\"\n\n\"Which caste do you want to be in?\" her father asked.\n\nShe knew the answer they wanted, but she could not give it.\n\nHe nodded. \"That's what we thought.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "She sat stunned, staring at the strangers who had been her parents." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "They were going to inscribe her in the merchant caste at the age of fifteen, three cycles earlier than her brother's inscription as a crafter. It was a cruel trap, snapping shut on her leg and holding her in place forevermore. Castes could not easily be changed. An appeal required parental support, and her parents would not support it." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Once she was inscribed, she could never be anything else." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Without another word, she shoved back her chair, fled upstairs, and slammed her bedroom door shut.\n\nNo one came to comfort her, not even her mother.\n\nThat night, two hanticks before dawn, she crept out of her room with a packed bag and noiselessly descended the stairs to the shop. Though the door to the outside was always locked when the shop was closed, the door from the inside rooms was not." }, { "from": "human", "value": "She let herself in, walked behind the front counter, and emptied out the cashbox." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The amount would have been much greater had she been able to access it at the end of the day, before they'd done their accounting and taken the day's profit upstairs, but that was not an option. It was still a good number. The shop was carrying more expensive items these days, and their opening cash reserve was higher than it used to be.\n\nShe replaced the empty box and walked into the back room." }, { "from": "human", "value": "The shop's night lighting was more than enough to illuminate the swords and daggers mounted on the walls." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Her hand hovered over her favorite sword, but then she turned and took the pair of ceremonial daggers instead. They had arrived two moons ago, and she had created a wonderful story for them. These daggers had been given by the First Lancer as a prize for the one warrior who could complete a set of impossible challenges. Thereafter, any warrior who held them would be imbued with the courage, strength, and cunning of their original owner." }, { "from": "human", "value": "She lifted her head, facing the vidcam in the corner, and deliberately shoved both daggers into her waistband." }, { "from": "system", "value": "Your next one should be approximately 1 sentence." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Then she raised two fingers in a rude salute, held it for several pipticks, and waved good-bye." } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "I'll be your writing partner today. I will set the scene, and you will continue the story with four sentences, channeling the voice and techniques of Fletcher DeLancey.i'll kick things off by writing a bit, then you'll take over and write the next four sentences in the distinctive voice of Fletcher DeLancey.Ive got a bit of writers block, im gonna send you something then keep it going four sentences at a time, also im going for a Fletcher DeLancey sorta thing." }, { "from": "system", "value": "Produce a starting prompt please." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "As promised, the healer kept her in bed the next day. Rahel protested, but it was hard to be convincing when her body felt so heavy and she kept dropping off to sleep.\n\n\"You're working too hard,\" the healer said. \"You're not yet grown. There's a reason honorable merchants don't hire underage cargo loaders. Your body is not meant for this kind of stress.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"I can manage.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Yes, you look like you're managing very well.\"\n\n\"That's from the fight.\"\n\n\"Not all of it, child.\" He sighed and tucked away his reader card." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"I'll have to release you tonight, but I want you to think about this very seriously. Whatever you're running from, or whatever you're running to, you won't get very far with a broken body. You may cause yourself damage now that we can't fully repair.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Well, you've made sure I won't work for a while. I won't have a job to go back to after missing work today.\"\n\n\"Ask for a temporary work permit from your caste. Then you can find work that pays better than what you're getting now, with far less potential damage.\"\n\nAnother solution that required parental permission. It was as if the whole world was conspiring to keep her down." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"I'll think about it,\" she said, just to get him out of her room." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Mouse was more clever than she. \"That could work!\" he said excitedly.\n\nRahel stretched her arms overhead, glad to be back home even if the couch wasn't as comfortable as the healing center's bed. Outside, city lights marked the shore of Wildwind Bay while the docks blazed with the crowded lights of moored ships." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Beyond them lay the vast darkness of the bay, broken only by scattered, distant stars of fishing boats leaving port and larger ships coming in, each making its lonely journey across the waters." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"No, it won't,\" she said. \"My parents would never help me get a temporary work permit from the warrior caste.\"\n\n\"Stop thinking like a merchant. Think like a warrior. Think tactically.\"\n\nShe frowned at him." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"What's that supposed to mean?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Don't ask them to help you get a permit from the warriors. Get a permit from the merchants. They'll probably be overjoyed.\"\n\n\"But I don't want—\"\n\n\"And then find a job working at a training house.\"\n\nShe snapped her mouth shut and stared at him." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Fahla's farts, that's . . .\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Genius, I know.\" He sat back against the couch with a pleased grin. Then he giggled. \"Fahla's farts? You've been working on the docks too long. It's time to get you employed somewhere else.\"\n\n\"That really could work! Somebody must need help with accounting, or membership records, or . . . shek, I'd sweep the floors and clean the mats. Anything would be better than loading cargo. And I'd have access to a training house again!\"\n\nShe had sorely missed her times in the centering room, and the mats and equipment." }, { "from": "human", "value": "But more than that, she was worried by last night's fight." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "It had shown all too clearly that one cycle of training was not enough. Had the big attacker not been so unskilled, she would never have gotten him off her. And if the third boy hadn't been too scared to use his knife . . .\n\nIt was all luck." }, { "from": "human", "value": "She might not be that lucky again." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "If she could find work in a training house, she could keep training. The warriors would never teach her without parental permission, but there were books in the library, and she could watch some of the classes. All she needed was the space to experiment and practice.\n\nMouse was happy to help her draft a message to her parents." }, { "from": "human", "value": "They laughed over the carefully chosen phrasing, in which she sounded conciliatory and ready to think about her future, even while making it clear that she would not return home." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "She also apologized for the stolen daggers, explained that she had sold them in order to finance her residence in Whitesun so far, and promised to repay their value when she had inscribed and could make regular wages.\n\nShe had never imagined telling anyone about those daggers, but Mouse not only understood, he said it was the most sensible thing she had done that night.\n\n\"I took jewelry,\" he said. \"Figured it was the least they owed me. It paid for almost five moons before I had to start working.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "They sent the message the next day, using one of the public vidcom units in the library." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "All responses to those units were collected at the library's communication desk, and Rahel was surprised to find an answer the very next morning.\n\nFrom her mother.\n\n\"Harsh,\" Mouse commented. \"He won't even speak to you by written message?\"\n\nShe began reading. \"He's furious about the daggers. But Mother thinks he's feeling guilty about me running away and covering the guilt with anger.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Do you think she's right?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "She remembered her father throwing away her library books and shook her head. \"I used to be able to sense that he loved me. That's not supposed to change, is it? It never did with Mother.\"\n\n\"I don't know,\" Mouse said. \"I never sensed it at all.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "She touched his shoulder in sympathy, then looked back at the text before the moment got too awkward." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "A piptick later she let out a cry of elation.\n\n\"He did it!\"\n\nHeads turned all across the communication room, and she clapped a hand over her mouth as she read through to the end. Tears blurred her vision." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Blinking furiously, she dropped her hand and cleared her throat." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Mother says he won't come to meet me—which I guess is supposed to be a punishment.\"\n\n\"If only he knew.\" Mouse had been forced to talk her down the previous night, when she was panicking at the very idea of having to speak with her father and carry off the deceit in person.\n\n\"I never thought I'd say it, but thank Fahla for his temper. All I have to do is go to the merchant caste house and pick up the permit. He expects regular reports—\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Oh, those will be fun to write.\" Mouse grinned." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "She stared at him, her heart swelling with affection and gratitude. He had seen so much pain in his life and had few chances for an easier future, yet envy or bitterness never seemed to cross his mind. He was genuinely happy for her.\n\n\"Mouse, thank you. Thank you so much. You've saved me. I can't imagine where I'd be right now without you.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Probably in the water. I don't know how you got away with sleeping on that ship as long as you did.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "His grin faded. \"You don't have to thank me. You almost died for me the other night. No one has ever cared that much. This . . .\" He waved at the message. \"This was nothing.\"\n\n\"This is everything,\" she corrected. A whole cycle of freedom and legitimacy." }, { "from": "human", "value": "With her merchant caste work permit, she would be able to subscribe to the library and take books home." }, { "from": "system", "value": "Next message should be approximately 5 sentences." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "She could work anywhere. She was safe from the City Guards. She could get herself and Mouse better lodgings, where they didn't have to depend on a building owner who would look the other way when they had no caste ID to present.\n\n\"Come on,\" she said happily. \"We're going to the merchant caste house.\"" } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Provide four sentences as a continuation." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Mouse was different after her birth anniversary." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Rahel didn't know why, but something seemed to have switched on inside him. Or perhaps switched off.\n\nHe began taking more clients again. Half a cycle ago, when she was making enough income, she had convinced him to reduce his client list and let her pay for more of their living expenses." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Now, he was working almost every day." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Worse, he was taking clients at night.\n\n\"You were the one who told me not to do that,\" she argued one evening as he was leaving. \"You said it wasn't safe.\"\n\n\"Nothing in my job is safe.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Mouse, come on! Why are you doing this?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He opened the door. \"You and Jacon aren't the only ones with plans.\"\n\n\"What does that—\"\n\n\"I have to go. Back in a hantick and a half.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "The door closed behind him before she could react." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The next time he went out at night, she stood in front of the door. \"No. Not until you tell me where you're going. If you're determined to be this stupid, at least give me that.\"\n\nWhen he didn't answer right away, her heart sank.\n\n\"I'm not going to like where you're meeting these clients, am I?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Robber's Rest,\" he muttered." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"What in the—that's the sleaziest place on the bayfront!\"\n\n\"It's not so bad when you know the owners. They're very . . . discreet.\"\n\n\"Meaning they don't ask questions and they have terrible memories. That's not always a good thing, Mouse.\"\n\n\"It is for me. I make more when I don't have to pay for discretion.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"For the love of Fahla, you don't have to make more. We're doing fine!\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"You are. I'm falling behind. It was time to get back in the boat.\"\n\n\"Why is this suddenly you versus me? We're a team. We've always been a team. What changed?\"\n\nWhen he met her eyes, he looked much older than his nineteen cycles. \"Nothing. It's what will change. I have to plan for that.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Sharro's concern came through her touch when she heard about Mouse." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Drawing her fingertips across Rahel's open palm, she said, \"He's proving something.\"\n\nRahel was sitting beside her on the couch, her hand resting on Sharro's thigh while they watched the courtyard trees tossing back and forth in a spring hailstorm.\n\n\"I know, but what does he have to prove?\"\n\n\"Nothing. That's not the right question.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "The wind shifted, rattling hailstones against the tall windows." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Rahel watched them hit, stick, and slide slowly down in a trail of melting ice. A flash of lightning streaked through the blue-black clouds, followed almost immediately by the crack and roar of thunder.\n\n\"What does he think he has to prove?\" she asked.\n\nSharro lifted her hand and kissed her wrist, a silent sign of approval, then laid it back on her thigh." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Moving her caresses up Rahel's arm, she said, \"You had a disagreement the night of your birth anniversary. Do you think this has something to do with that?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "It had been three ninedays since their fight. Rahel had not told Sharro what it was about. Now she looked at her and said, \"He thought I wanted to shek you.\"\n\nSharro's caresses did not falter, nor did her facial expression change." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Crudely put. Is that what he called it when you and he joined?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"I think I'm the one who called it shekking, before we started. Just to make him laugh. He was more serious about it once we got going. It was joining for him.\"\n\n\"So he joined with you, but you and I would shek.\"\n\n\"Then . . . he's jealous? Shouldn't I have sensed that?\"\n\n\"Not necessarily. Not if the jealousy was short-lived. Perhaps it became something else. A fear.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Sharro gently tugged on her arm, and Rahel repositioned herself without a word." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Stretched out on her side with her head on Sharro's warm thigh, she watched the hailstones judder and slide their way down the glass. Some of them slipped straight down, a smooth and uninterrupted race to their destination. Others took longer, moving in fits and starts, angling this way and that before finally sliding to the bottom.\n\n\"He's afraid we're outrunning him,\" she said." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Jacon and me. We're moving on with our lives, and he feels left behind.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Sharro combed the hair away from her ear. \"That is a very lonely feeling.\"\n\n\"But he doesn't have to feel that way. I've told him time and again, I'm taking him with me.\"\n\n\"You're taking him with you,\" Sharro repeated." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Like a crate of belongings?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"No, of course . . . not.\" The last word came out in a different tone. \"Oh.\"\n\nIt was always Sharro's way to lead her to a realization and then let her sit with it. Rahel sat with it now, barely able to see the courtyard through the streaks and stones on the glass." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Another lightning bolt split the dark sky, its following thunder so loud that it shook the room." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "She dropped her hand down to Sharro's calf, pulling up the trouser leg enough to touch the smooth skin beneath. \"You always wear loose trousers.\"\n\n\"I always wear loose trousers with you.\"\n\nShe listened to the comfort that sang through Sharro's skin, the total relaxation that said she felt safe, secure, unworried." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Mouse's skin had carried none of those emotions when she had briefly held his hands." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"You don't allow all of your clients to touch you?\"\n\nSharro laughed quietly. \"Only four of them. Including you. Most don't want to. They don't come to touch; they come to be touched.\"\n\nMost. Not all. Meaning some clients wanted to, but Sharro would not allow it." } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Task: The user will write a bit then you need to write around 4 sentences continuing directly from the user's text.\n\nAuthor style: Fletcher DeLancey" }, { "from": "system", "value": "Produce a starting prompt please." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Over the course of the next cycle, Ravenel did build her future. She left Brasalara with barely a backward glance, stating that there was nothing left for her there, and settled permanently with Sharro.\n\nWithin half a moon, she found a space to rent near the bayfront. By the end of the moon, she had shipped in equipment and set up a new workshop." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Then she threw herself into her craft and churned out sculptures that were hauntingly evocative of both her grief and her hope." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "They found willing buyers in Alseans who had seen their planet invaded and damaged, who had lost loved ones or taken part in the terrible battle. The sculptures filled a need and sold as fast as her mother could make them. Rahel thought the income might be secondary to the comfort of knowing that so many people understood.\n\nShe herself did not do nearly as well." }, { "from": "human", "value": "When she returned to Blacksun and resumed her normal life, the nightmares began." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The first time, she woke up terrified because it had been her, not Pria, who had lost her legs. No one had been there to offer paincounters. She had lain on the hillside in agony, until she put her disruptor to her head to end it. But it would not fire, and she knew she would suffer like that forever." }, { "from": "human", "value": "A few nights later, she dreamed that she was leading her scholars toward another ground pounder and realized that they were no longer following." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "When she stopped and turned, all four of them looked at her with that focused expression. For a moment she didn't understand what they were doing. Then she screamed as their claws tore into her mind.\n\nShe dreamed that she set her father's pyre alight and then watched in horror as he sat upright, his clothes and hair in flames, and howled in agony." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Why did you come back now?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "he raged as his face began to melt. \"Why now, only to burn me?\"\n\nShe dreamed of being chased by ground pounders that always knew where she was, no matter how well she was hidden. She dreamed of watching scholars break the Voloth, only to have all of the Voloth converge on her and tear her apart." }, { "from": "human", "value": "She dreamed of Voloth imbued with the powers of high empaths, staring at her from beneath a ground pounder and breaking her mind." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Worst of all were the nights when she dreamed of lying on a couch, her head in Sharro's lap, her eyes closed while she luxuriated in the familiar touch of those gentle fingers brushing back her hair. Then the touch stopped, and she opened her eyes. It was not Sharro who looked down at her, but the empathic rapist.\n\nSleep never returned once she awoke." }, { "from": "human", "value": "She discovered that a gulp of Whitesun Rise before bed kept the nightmares away—for a while." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Then it wasn't enough, so she tried two. Then three.\n\nHer consumption of grain spirits rose, while her hanticks of sleep continued to decline. Over time, both took their toll.\n\nThree and a half moons after the Battle of Alsea, the Council voted to allow the Voloth survivors to settle on Alsea." }, { "from": "human", "value": "These were the soldiers who had been turned after Lancer Tal's new battle plan, whose minds had not been shattered." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "They included the four from the ground pounder that Rahel's team had captured.\n\nRahel was stunned by this betrayal. She could not believe that these soldiers, who had brought death and destruction to Alsea with no provocation, were being rewarded by a life of leisure on the very planet they had tried to enslave.\n\nShantu agreed with her." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"It was Lancer Tal,\" he growled." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"She convinced the High Council, and they convinced the Council. She was a great war leader, but this—!\"\n\nHer nightmares worsened. It was as if the knowledge of those Voloth living on Alsea permeated her subconscious, releasing the terrors more frequently. She had respected Lancer Tal for her brilliance during the Battle of Alsea, but now she associated that name with betrayal.\n\nIn an effort to get the sleep she so desperately needed, she tried drinking not only before she went to bed, but also when she awoke from a nightmare." }, { "from": "human", "value": "This, too, was effective at first." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Then she needed more to make it work.\n\nAt one point, worried about her consumption levels, she tried sleep meds. But they gummed up her brain so badly that the increased sleep was not worth it. She would wake after a full night of dreamless sleep feeling as if half of her intellect had vanished during the night." }, { "from": "human", "value": "It returned only gradually over the course of the day, reaching normal levels just before she took another dose." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "When Shantu noticed and commented on her lack of sharpness, she threw away the sleep meds and returned to drinking. It wasn't as effective for combating nightmares, but it didn't destroy her ability to perform her job.\n\nShe refused to work with high empaths. Shantu was the only one she could tolerate." }, { "from": "human", "value": "She had never been comfortable around them, not since the age of seventeen, but now she would make every effort, take any path, if it meant she could keep them away from her." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Five and a half moons after the battle, the test facility for the new fusion reactors lost containment and exploded. It had been built with Protectorate technology acquired in the treaty Alsea had signed. Conspiracy theories abounded, but Shantu dismissed them all.\n\n\"If the Protectorate wanted to destroy us, it wouldn't be through giving us faulty blueprints for fusion reactors,\" he said." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Those idiots screaming about the Protectorate are missing the real problem. Our true crisis is much closer at hand.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"What is that?\" Rahel asked. She was sitting in his home office, a glass of very fine grain spirits in her hand. It was one of the nicer benefits of meeting with Shantu.\n\n\"Lancer Tal. I supported her when she used her emergency powers to bypass the government, but that power went to her head. She stood in front of the Council today and treated us like children. Told us that she would decide when to release the Protectorate's matter printers, not us. Not the Council. Her.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"She's overriding the Council?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Shantu nodded. \"Those matter printers are the most transformative technology our world may ever see. Instantly creating anything we want without worrying about scarce resources? There is nothing more important than handling that tech properly. And she's sitting on it. The same woman who let the Voloth settle here!\" His voice rose. \"Who gave away our sovereignty to the aliens who abandoned us and then said, 'Hoi, you have something we want, let us help you after all.' We saved ourselves from the Voloth. We didn't need Protectorate help. She's drunk on power and endangering our future.\"\n\n\"I don't understand. You engineered a caste coup to throw out Tordax, and he wasn't half this bad. Why aren't you getting rid of her?\"\n\nHe looked as if he had tasted something sour." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Her approval ratings are still sky high. People haven't forgotten that she saved Alsea during the invasion.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"She didn't do it by herself. Your ratings are sky high as well.\"\n\nShantu had been a brilliant commander for the Pallea forces and was personally responsible for the destruction of eleven ground pounders before the battle had turned. His reputation was stronger than ever, and he had forced Lancer Tal to accept several of his demands while she forged a treaty with the Protectorate.\n\n\"Not high enough.\" He leaned back in his chair and gazed at her across his desk." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"But I'm working on it. Lancer Tal assigned me to work with Parser on corruption in the merchant caste—\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"She assigned you? Like an instructor assigns a student?\"\n\nThe sour look returned. \"Yes, and that will come back to bite her. It gives Parser and me the perfect cover for long-term planning. There will be a caste coup, have no doubt. But the current political climate requires careful maneuvering.\"\n\n\"You're working on a caste coup with the Prime Merchant? That man would sell you three-day-old fish and charge you extra for the flies.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Shantu laughed. \"True words. But he's also predictable and very well connected. I won't succeed with Tal the way I did with Tordax. It needs to be a subtle attack.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Rahel thought about that as she sipped her drink. Shantu was many things; subtle was not one of them. This was a radical departure from his normal methods.\n\n\"Are you really that worried about her?\" she asked." }, { "from": "human", "value": "He shifted to rest his forearms on the desk and fixed her with a serious stare." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Lancer Tal is the greatest threat Alsea has ever known. She's worse than the Voloth. They were at least a clear enemy to be recognized and repelled. Tal is insidious. She's selling our future and weakening us at precisely the time when we need to be stronger than ever. She must be stopped.\"\n\nRahel finished her drink and set the empty glass on his desk. \"Whatever you need from me. You know that.\"\n\n\"I know. You're my secret weapon.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Seven and a half moons later, on the one-cycle anniversary of the Battle of Alsea, Ravenel and Sharro held a bonding ceremony." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"It might be an odd choice,\" Ravenel said when she told Rahel of their plans. \"But we don't want that date to mean only loss. I want to balance the memory of what I lost with a celebration of what we gained.\"\n\nWhitesun Temple was packed for the ceremony. Sharro knew half the city, and Ravenel had found her place in the vibrant crafter community." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Their distinctive tricolored capes were everywhere, but the best use of crafter colors were the blue, green, and yellow stripes Sharro had put in her hair." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The bondmates were radiant, filling the temple with their happiness, and Rahel drank it in like a tonic. She hoped their joy might free her of nightmares while she accompanied them on their bonding break. They had chosen a little village on the east coast, scenic and untouched by the invasion.\n\nOn the second night, she woke in a gasping panic to find Sharro sitting on her bed." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"You're all right,\" Sharro said." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"It was just a nightmare.\"\n\n\"Oh, Fahla. I thought—never mind. What are you doing here?\"\n\n\"I couldn't sleep, so I went for a walk on the beach. When I came back past your cabin, I heard you.\"\n\n\"Wonderful.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Would it help to talk about it?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Not in the slightest.\" She tensed when Sharro began brushing her hair back from her forehead. Her nightmare had been the bad one, where Sharro did exactly this and then turned into the empathic rapist. She tried to relax, telling herself that the nightmare version did not smell of sea air and floral lotion, but her body refused to listen." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Sharro rested her hand on Rahel's forehead." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"How long have you been having these? Since the battle?\"\n\n\"Almost. They started when I went back to Blacksun.\"\n\n\"Are you getting help?\"\n\n\"You mean the special counselors?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "She pushed Sharro's hand away and sat upright." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Those are for the high empaths.\"\n\n\"They're for everyone, Rahel. Everyone who saw things they can't forget.\"\n\n\"What am I going to say? 'Oh, yes, I was in the battle and barely got a scratch, while other people got their legs blown off or had to empathically break the invaders, but I'm the one who needs help.' It's ridiculous. I walked out of that battle with a sore rib. A sore rib! And then I went to Brasalara and saw half the town destroyed. I watched my mother light the pyres of most of her family. Other people suffered. I didn't.\"\n\n\"You're suffering right now.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Sharro reached out, but stopped when Rahel shifted away." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Rahel. You can't even accept touch. Touch for you is like food and water for others.\"\n\nRahel stared at a loose thread on her coverlet.\n\n\"And now you're wishing I would leave, aren't you?\"\n\nShe nodded, then felt guilty and looked up." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"It's not that I don't appreciate it. Thank you for worrying about me. But it's not necessary.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "From Sharro's expression, she did not believe that for a moment. \"All right. I don't want to make you uncomfortable. Will you at least promise me that when you go home, you'll see someone about this? It's not a weakness to get help.\" She smiled, bringing out her dimple. \"You don't always have to fight.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Rahel could not summon up an answering smile." }, { "from": "system", "value": "Next message should be approximately 2 sentences." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"I promise,\" she said.\n\nIt was the only promise she ever broke." } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Mode:\nCo-writing\n\nLength:\n4 sentences\n\nStyle:\nFletcher DeLancey" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Colonel Corozen Micah walked down the luxurious corridor on the seventh floor of the State House and heaved a long-suffering sigh." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"You didn't tell me about dokshin like that when you made me Salomen's Chief Counselor. You said I'd be helping Salomen, not sitting through interminable meetings with bloviating bureaucrats.\"\n\nBeside him, Lancer Andira Tal didn't even try to hide her amusement. \"You are helping her. If you hadn't been in that meeting, she would have had to do it. I can assure you that she's grateful for your sacrifice.\"\n\n\"That's exactly what it was.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Sometimes he missed his old life, when running Tal's security had been his sole concern." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Now his role as her Chief Guardian was at least half honorary, as he devolved more of his responsibilities to Head Guardian Gehrain and focused on aiding Salomen.\n\n\"Also,\" Tal continued, \"you should have read the contract before you signed.\"\n\n\"I didn't think my own family would be so untrustworthy! I'm supposed to be able to trust you as my Lancer and my adopted daughter.\"\n\n\"Ah, but I didn't know then that you really were my family. You should have told me earlier. I might have warned you.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"I have taught you no honor,\" Micah grumbled, and hid his smile at her laughter." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "As a low empath, he had no chance of concealing his emotions from her, but appearances were important.\n\nThen he groaned as she bypassed the lift and opened the door to the stairs. \"Seven flights? You're making me walk up seven flights?\"\n\n\"You can take the lift if you're too old.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Apparently I haven't taught you respect, either.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"I'm being very respectful,\" she said, ostentatiously stepping aside. \"Please, go ahead. I'll hold the door.\"\n\n\"For the love of Fahla, first a hantick of verbal hot air and now this.\" He trudged past and began the climb." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Since his injury during the rescue of Herot Opah, the healers had instructed him to take stairs whenever possible." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "His synthetic hip would work better the more it was used, they said. Tal had taken it upon herself to enforce their advice, and he was never certain whether he loved or hated her for it.\n\nShe passed him on the first landing, bouncing up the next set of stairs with an ease he envied. Just before reaching the last step, she stumbled so badly that only her grip on the polished banister kept her from falling." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Micah was about to make a comment on her deserved comeuppance when he saw the look of utter terror on her face." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Tal!\" He raced up, ready to catch her if needed. \"What is it?\"\n\n\"Salomen,\" she choked out. \"She's gone. I can't feel her.\"\n\nMicah's earcuff defaulted to the channel used by Tal's security." }, { "from": "human", "value": "He changed it to Salomen's security channel just in time to hear the communication from Lead Guard Ronlin." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Lancer Tal. We have a hostage situation. Bondlancer Opah is not hurt—\"\n\n\"Dokshin she's not hurt!\" Tal pulled herself upright. \"I know she's hurt! What the shek happened?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Shock bomb. She's not injured, just stunned. She's being used as a shield by some warrior who came out of nowhere.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Nobody came out of nowhere. Someone had failed, badly. But Tal's unhealthy pallor had eased and she nodded at Micah, indicating that Salomen was back in their emotional link.\n\n\"The warrior is demanding to speak with you,\" Ronlin said after a moment." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"She's ordered me to give her my earcuff.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "As they waited, Micah spoke softly. \"How is she?\"\n\n\"Better.\" Tal's relief was evident in her voice. \"And fuming.\"\n\n\"Good. If she's angry, she's not hurt.\"\n\nThey winced as a loud clatter rattled their ears." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Another Guard came on the channel and announced, \"Bondlancer Opah just threw away the earcuff.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Tal groaned. \"Get her another one, and don't let—\" Her sentence ended on a gasp, and she seemed to go boneless. Micah lunged, catching her around the waist and holding her as she slumped over the banister.\n\nHe listened to the report in growing horror. Salomen was in the hands of an enemy who had just sent a clear message, and Tal was shaking beneath his hands." }, { "from": "human", "value": "He had no doubt that the attacker's shot had gone through Tal's arm as well." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "She might not be bleeding, but she felt the pain—and the equally painful knowledge that she couldn't protect her tyree from it.\n\nSomehow, Tal kept her voice steady as she said, \"Tell Salomen to do what she asks.\"\n\nShe straightened again, giving him a grateful nod, and they waited while another earcuff was delivered to the attacker.\n\nThe warrior's first words seemed tailored specifically to send Tal into a blind rage." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Micah groaned to himself, knowing long before Tal said it that she would accept the honor challenge." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "She had nothing to gain by it and a good chance of being seriously injured, but she was not thinking clearly.\n\nAnd then it seemed she wasn't thinking at all. She went stiff, staring blindly into space, her eyes dilated to the point where only a thin line of blue edged the black.\n\n\"Tal,\" he said carefully." }, { "from": "human", "value": "She gave no sign of hearing." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Andira Shaldone Tal!\"\n\nStill nothing.\n\nHe put a gentle hand on her shoulder, hoping to connect through touch, and was unprepared for the lightning-fast punch to his jaw. It sent him stumbling down three stairs before he caught himself." }, { "from": "human", "value": "He touched the side of his face and winced; that was going to hurt for a few days." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Tal came back to life just before Ronlin said, \"Situation secured. Sayana is in restraints and Vellmar is getting the healers. Bondlancer Opah is . . . shaken, but otherwise all right.\"\n\nTal looked at him and blanched. \"Micah, you're bleeding!\" She flexed her fingers, as if only now noticing the impact, and asked, \"Did I do that?\"\n\nHe wiped the corner of his mouth and nodded." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Remind me not to touch you when you're worried about Salomen.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"That wasn't—\" She didn't finish. \"I need a transport. I'm taking one of the Candini fighters.\"\n\nRahel Sayana's estimate of forty ticks was for Alsean transports. But since Tal had the Caphenon's fighters rebuilt, she kept four stationed at the State House: two each of the single-seater Candinis and the two-seater Serrados." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Any of those fighters could get her to Pollonius in a quarter of the time." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Tal,\" he warned. \"Don't go without your—\"\n\n\"I don't want to hear it! Salomen has ten Guards in Pollonius, and my Lead Guard is already there.\" She pushed past him and thundered down the stairs.\n\n\"Spawn of a fantenshekken!\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "He flipped his earcuff to the Lancer's security channel." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"This is Colonel Micah with a medical emergency override. All Guards, get to the Candini fighters now. Do not obey any orders from Lancer Tal without my express authorization and do not allow her to board a fighter. I repeat, medical emergency override!\"\n\nHe would never catch her in time. His only hope was that at least one Guard would be near enough to the fighters to stop her. Tal was the most brilliant tactician he knew, but whatever had made her go into that altered state had also made her brains dribble out of her ears." }, { "from": "human", "value": "By the time he got to the landing pad, no fewer than five Guards had formed a wall preventing Tal from reaching the fighters." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "She was enraged, loudly ordering them to move their sorry backsides or she would do it for them.\n\n\"Tal!\" Micah shouted as he ran. \"Don't make me chase you!\"\n\nIt was disrespectful to the extreme, but it worked." }, { "from": "human", "value": "She seemed to deflate, then turned around to face him as he ran the last few steps." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"I just saw you go blank,\" he said in a low tone, keeping it private. \"You didn't know where you were or who was around you. If you think I'm letting you pilot a fighter now, you're insane. You can wait two Fahla-damned ticks for Gehrain to get here and fly you. I've called him and one other pilot; they're on their way.\"\n\n\"Do you have any idea what just happened?\" she demanded. \"Salomen—\"\n\n\"Will be much happier if you arrive alive and in one piece, instead of in a cloud of molecules blowing in from wherever you crashed. Her injury isn't life-threatening.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"It's not her injury I'm worried about.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"I know. But she's safe. Which you won't be if you hit the ground at four times the speed of sound.\" Just as she opened her mouth to respond, he added, \"And I won't be, either, if I have to tell Salomen that I let you kill yourself.\"\n\nHer jaw clicked shut. \"Gehrain had better not be longer than two ticks.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Fortunately for everyone, the two pilots arrived as quickly as promised." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Tal took the copilot's seat in one Serrado fighter, and Micah the other. They were decelerating into Pollonius before the rest of Tal's Guards left Blacksun airspace.\n\nRonlin called to say that Salomen was at the healing center, but refused to give his full report over the com channel. \"Some things are better discussed in person,\" he said mysteriously." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Micah could guess how well Tal would take that." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "When the two fighters reached the healing center's landing pad, he was not surprised to see Tal jump out of hers before it had fully settled on its landing gear.\n\nLead Guard Fianna Vellmar waited for them just outside the back entrance and took them to the tiny lobby, where a nervous-looking healer stood between two of Salomen's Guards.\n\n\"Where is she?\" Tal demanded.\n\n\"This way.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "As they strode across the lobby and up a flight of stairs, the healer assured them that here in Pollonius, they knew how to deal with these kinds of injuries." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Salomen would be going into surgery as soon as they cleared one of their surgical suites from the operation currently taking place.\n\n\"You'd be surprised at how often producers drive studs through the wrong things,\" he said in a misplaced attempt at joviality.\n\nMicah winced. Healers never did know when to shut up.\n\nThey turned a corner into a short dead-end corridor, its entrance blocked by two Guards." }, { "from": "human", "value": "At the far end, two more flanked a door." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "One of them opened it as Tal broke into a run.\n\nMicah followed at a more sedate pace. This was not a meeting he needed to be present for.\n\nHe looked through the window in the door to see Salomen sitting upright against the pillows, exhaustion showing in every line of her face." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Her formal clothing had been replaced with a healing center shirt that lacked one sleeve, leaving her injured arm free." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The white bandages looked terribly wrong against her skin, newly tanned from her recent ninedays in the fields.\n\nHer dark brown hair was out of its twist and draped around her shoulders, and the lovely smile Micah had enjoyed this morning seemed as if it might never return. She was in tears, reaching out for Tal with her good arm, and the two of them held each other as if they would never let go.\n\nMicah had braced himself for a difficult sight, but this was harder than he expected." }, { "from": "human", "value": "He knew Salomen first as the uncompromising producer who had fought Tal to a standstill in their policy meetings, then as the indefatigable woman who defied all expectations in the State House." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Yet now she was diminished. He could not imagine what that warrior had done to destroy Salomen's confidence so completely. Certainly no mere physical injury could have accomplished that.\n\nSalomen slumped back against her pillows and said something, leading Tal to turn and wave Micah in." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Salomen,\" he said as he approached the bed." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"It's good to see you.\"\n\nShe offered a watery smile that went nowhere near her eyes. \"I can't say this more than once. I did something terrible.\"\n\n\"Whatever you did, it's not your fault,\" Tal said soothingly." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"It is. I knew she wasn't going to hurt me.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"She did hurt you.\" Micah wondered if the effects of the shock bomb hadn't yet worn off.\n\n\"No. In the beginning. She . . . there wasn't any intent. Not against me. I was angry, and I didn't want her to—\" Salomen wiped her cheek. \"I acted like a grainbird. I threw that earcuff and I knew it would destroy her plan, but I didn't think about what that would mean. She didn't want to do it. She felt sick about it.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"I'm delighted to hear it,\" Tal said." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"She's still going to the Pit.\"\n\n\"You don't understand! I almost killed her! Empathically!\"\n\nThere was no sound in the room but Salomen's labored breathing as she tried to get herself under control. Micah reeled in shock." } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Mode:\nCo-writing\n\nLength:\n4 sentences\n\nStyle:\nFletcher DeLancey" }, { "from": "system", "value": "Produce a starting prompt please." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Micah and Tal spent the duration of Salomen's surgery in a small meeting room with Ronlin and Vellmar, listening to their report.\n\n\"She broke your empathic shields?\" Tal asked incredulously. \"All of you?\"\n\nMicah sat in the chair next to her, watching his two Lead Guards across the table." }, { "from": "human", "value": "He had expected high levels of stress, but their body language spoke of something well beyond that." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "This latest revelation explained why.\n\n\"Not just our shields,\" Ronlin said. \"She burned out our empathic senses. None of us could feel a thing. I didn't start getting mine back for a tentick.\"\n\n\"It was like a fireball blowing through a paper door.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Vellmar still looked shaken." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Her empathic rating was the highest on the scale, matched only by Tal's, yet it sounded as if Salomen hadn't merely breached her shields. She had destroyed them.\n\n\"Fahla.\" Tal rubbed her forehead ridges. \"If I didn't know you two so well, I'd think you were drinking. Or temporarily insane. No one can take out eight high empaths. She isn't even trained!\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Eight high empaths and one mid empath,\" Ronlin said." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"And two of those Guards were out in the lobby. They weren't anywhere near her, but they reported the same effects. Every one of us heard that scream, and every one of us was incapacitated.\" He leaned forward. \"Lancer Tal, I'm sorry to speak words you don't want to hear. But Bondlancer Opah is my responsibility. To protect her, I have to deal in facts. The simple fact is, she has stronger empathic powers than anything in recorded history.\"\n\n\"She was never tested,\" Micah reminded them. \"We never knew how strong she was.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"I don't think she can be tested. The protocols won't measure her.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Ronlin hesitated. \"There's more.\"\n\n\"We know,\" Tal said. \"She told us she nearly killed that warrior.\"\n\n\"Vellmar was the only one close enough to see.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Ronlin looked at his fellow Lead Guard, whose posture telegraphed extreme discomfort." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"When I could stand up again, I saw Sal—ah, Bondlancer Opah standing near the podium and Sayana on her knees. They were staring at each other. Sayana had the stud driver and . . .\" Vellmar cleared her throat. \"She was turning it to her own head. Even when I stopped her by putting a knife through her hand, she tried again with her other hand. It didn't stop until Ronlin knocked her unconscious. That's when Bondlancer Opah returned to normal.\"\n\nTal exhaled. \"Is it possible that Sayana was suicidal?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Not a chance,\" Vellmar said." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"I felt her before my senses were burned out. She was angry and confident, not depressed.\"\n\n\"If she wanted to commit suicide, she needed to be less competent,\" Ronlin added. \"She disabled three Guards and had Bondlancer Opah in a neck hold before any of us even knew she was there. That was not the behavior of someone who wanted to die.\"\n\nVellmar shifted in her seat." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Lancer Tal, may I speak freely?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Go ahead.\"\n\nAfter a pause, she crossed her hands on the table and met Tal's gaze. \"When I got to Salomen, she didn't recognize me. Her pupils were dilated so far that if I didn't know her eyes were brown, I couldn't have told you.\"\n\nMicah's surprise did not show outwardly, but he was in a room with three high empaths." }, { "from": "human", "value": "He held up a hand when they all looked at him." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Later. Finish your statement.\"\n\nVellmar nodded. \"I threw my knife right in front of her, but she didn't even flinch. She didn't react to Sayana being impaled through the hand, either. But the worst of it is that she was so . . . uncaring. She was watching Sayana kill herself, and she didn't care. That was not my friend. That was someone who holds a power no Alsean ever has or ever should have.\"\n\n\"She cared,\" Ronlin said. \"You weren't with her in the skimmer afterward. She cared a great deal.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"And I believe the issue of whether she should have that power is beyond this discussion,\" Tal said in clipped tones." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"The fact is, she does.\"\n\nRonlin jumped into the charged silence. \"Bondlancer Opah didn't know what she was doing. I have no conflict of interest in not reporting this because there was no criminal intent.\"\n\n\"How do you know that?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Micah asked. They hadn't gotten much more out of Salomen than her initial confession." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Shock and exhaustion had made her nearly incoherent, and she had fallen asleep soon after.\n\n\"Because she didn't remember anything about it. My empathic senses came back before her memory did, and I would swear before a High Tribunal that she didn't know what happened. When she did remember, she didn't know how it happened. All she could say was that it wasn't her.\"\n\nMicah saw the odd expression on Tal's face but chose not to comment. Instead he steered them toward what he felt was the critical issue." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"How did it get to that point? How did a mid empath get on that stage?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Ronlin's face darkened. \"I'm still working on that. The two Guards she hit and sedated didn't sense any intent. None of us sensed her presence beforehand. I walked through that entire caste house myself, twice. She wasn't there.\"\n\n\"Obviously she was. Find that failure point, Ronlin.\"\n\n\"What does that warrior have to say for herself?\" Tal asked suddenly.\n\n\"She, er . . .\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Ronlin rubbed the back of his thick neck." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"She said she won't talk to anyone but Fahla.\"\n\n\"Does she mean Fahla's Chosen?\" Micah had often teased Tal about that name. She had acquired it after killing Shantu in the ritual combat, and though she hated it, she could not deny its political power." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Er, no. I believe she meant Bondlancer Opah.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The room was silent as everyone tried not to look at Tal.\n\n\"I understand why she'd think that,\" Vellmar said. \"When I heard that scream in my mind, I thought the same thing. It wasn't Alsean.\" She withstood Tal's glare without flinching." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"It didn't sound Alsean.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"It didn't.\" Ronlin took the heat off Vellmar. \"It sounded like Fahla had come to avenge some great wrong.\"\n\n\"Well, she's not talking to Salomen, so she'd better give up that fantasy,\" Tal snapped.\n\nWhen it was clear that his Lead Guards had shared all they knew, Micah dismissed Ronlin to resume his investigation and told Vellmar to write up her report." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Then he joined Tal at the window of the tiny meeting room." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Why were you so surprised when Vellmar mentioned Salomen's eyes?\" Tal asked, her gaze on the outside view.\n\n\"Because yours looked just the same when you froze on the stairs.\"\n\nShe nodded, as if his words had only confirmed her suspicions." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"And you?\" he asked." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"There was something you weren't saying as well. When Ronlin mentioned Salomen's temporary memory loss.\"\n\nTal neither moved nor spoke for several pipticks, then set her shoulders and turned to face him. \"I felt it. On the stairs, I felt what Salomen was doing.\"\n\n\"I assumed as much.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Micah, it didn't feel like her. Or perhaps . . . not like all of her?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "She made a gesture of frustration. \"She was so angry, but that isn't the right word for it. It was homicidal rage. Take the angriest you have ever seen me and multiply it by a factor of one hundred, and you might be close. But that's all it was.\"\n\n\"I don't think I understand,\" Micah said.\n\n\"She was nothing but pure, lethally protective instinct. The rest of her wasn't there. It was like one dimension instead of three. I think that's why she had temporary memory loss, because most of her was gone. When I unfroze—that's when she came back. All the parts of her that were missing.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Micah frowned. \"Then that leaves us with two questions. Where did she go, and what happened to send her there?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"And she's the only one who can answer them.\"\n\nThey turned their attention to the other unsolved pieces of the puzzle. Of the three warriors that Sayana had neutralized, two were concussed from a hit to the temple but otherwise fine, once the sedative had been detected and countered. The third was already recovered, though he said his ears were still ringing." }, { "from": "human", "value": "No one knew how Sayana had escaped detection until that point." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Her bag contained a thermal scanner, two more shock bombs, a skinspray loaded with the sedative she had used on the Guards, and an electronic jammer. There was no ID or personal belongings. She had been armed only with a stave, the shock bombs, and the stud driver.\n\nIt was a meticulously planned nonfatal attack by the same warrior who had been prepared to kill everyone in the house where Herot was held." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Neither Micah nor Tal could make sense of it." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "They were interrupted by a call from one of the only com codes Tal had authorized, that of Communications Advisor Miltorin. She put it on her wristcom, enabling Micah to hear.\n\n\"I've been informed,\" Miltorin said without preamble. \"Did the audience see Bondlancer Opah being carried out?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"No. She walked out on her own.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Micah smiled. That was the Salomen he knew. According to Ronlin, she had not wanted her fellow producers to see her disabled in any way. Though wounded and in shock, she had held her head high and walked through them, faltering only when they began to chant her name.\n\n\"Excellent. That helps the optics considerably. We'll say she suffered minor injuries and the assailant was apprehended immediately. No names.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"No names?\" Tal exclaimed." }, { "from": "system", "value": "Next message should be approximately 5 sentences." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"You think that warrior deserves protection?\"\n\n\"I think Bondlancer Opah does. You offer the warrior's name, you invite questions. We don't want questions, and we especially don't want anyone to interview her. We make it a minor issue, because it is. There will be a little smoke, but if we don't add fuel to the fire, smoke is all it will be.\"\n\nMicah turned at a quick rap on the door. One of the Guards, newly arrived from Blacksun, poked his head in. \"Colonel Micah, the healer is here. Bondlancer Opah is out of surgery.\"" } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Let's engage in a collaborative writing exercise. I'll provide a starting point, and You'll continue with 4 sentences in the style of Meredith Katz." }, { "from": "human", "value": "As Zali'thurg watched him pack to leave the next day, he asked, \"Will you be coming back this time next month?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Oh—no, sorry. I'll have to put it off by about two weeks,\" Mike said, apologetic. \"I have to go back home again—it's my stepmother's sixtieth birthday and there's going to be a huge family get-together. She'll be heartbroken if I don't make it, so I've got everything set up already. I'm heading out a week earlier so she and I can spend some nice one-on-one time first.\"\n\nZali'thurg's brows drew down slightly, the expression made more severe by the scales running up to his hairline. \"Your… stepmother?\"\n\nDid he really not know the term?" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"My father's second wife,\" he clarified." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"My mother died when I was a kid, and he married again when I was in my teens.\"\n\n\"I understand that,\" Zali'thurg retorted, deciding to take a little offense. \"What I don't understand is why you'd want to spend so much time with a mere lover of your father. Even if you are devoted to your father, it's hardly the same.\"\n\nAh, here was a touch of the old Zali'thurg." }, { "from": "human", "value": "But rather than annoyance, Mike mostly felt amused." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He lifted both brows, crossing his arms. \"Don't see why my relationship with my stepmom's a problem for you.\"\n\n\"It's not a problem,\" Zali'thurg said, after a brief hesitation. \"Nor is it any of my concern, no, it's just—I don't understand it. I suppose, if you were a child when you met, it'd be reasonable that you'd let yourself get close to her, but even so, wouldn't that make going to a celebration of her advanced age that much worse? To know she is so close to death?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Now that was several morsels of interesting information all wrapped up together." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Mike didn't uncross his arms, but drummed his fingers on his other forearm. \"We are close, but it's not really because I was a kid at the time. I was actually really resistant to her at first, because it felt like Dad was trying to replace Mom, even though it had been years since she passed. It might have been harder to get along with her because I was a teenager, come to think of it.\"\n\n\"I don't…\" Zali'thurg huffed out a hot breath, deciding to not even bother finishing his sentence.\n\nWhen it looked like he wasn't going to say more, Mike went on." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"She wore me down over time. Despite me being mean and, honestly, kind of a jerk, she was always calm and friendly. She didn't try to become my mother, just… an adult in the house who'd be good to me. She didn't ever let me get away with stuff to try to suck up to me, which probably helped—people can always tell that, you know? Especially kids. But she met me at my level. I kept knitting because it made me feel closer to mom, and she asked me to teach her.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"She asked you?\"\n\n\"Yeah.\" Mike smiled a bit at the memory of Carrie, her arms crossed as she protested that not all older ladies automatically knew how to knit, kiddo. \"She didn't ask me too early. Not before I was willing to try to get along with her. But it helped. I was losing some of my skill with less practice, since I didn't do it around my friends at school, obviously.\"\n\n\"Obviously?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Mike shrugged, a little embarrassed." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"I was getting flack from people 'cause I was gay. Lots of nasty shit shouted at me in the halls, so I was trying to stop doing the things that'd get me in 'trouble,' like that'd actually help. Her asking gave me reason to brush up and rediscover something I loved.\"\n\nZali'thurg was watching him thoughtfully, silent.\n\nClearing his throat, Mike went on. \"Anyway, I guess that's just one little thing about her, but I think it's a good example, right? She's my stepmom and we get along. I don't need more reason than that, Zee.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "He waited to see if Zali'thurg would notice the nickname." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He didn't seem to, brows still heavy as he contemplated this. \"The last part, then. Celebrating her advanced age. You allowed yourself to bond to her, and now you'll lose her. Especially after you lost your mother, doesn't that seem hard?\"\n\nIt hurt, even though he'd expected something like this when Zali'thurg first mentioned his issue with that. But better to talk about it than not." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"I mean, first of all, sixty isn't actually that old for a human.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Is it not? You all live such short lives.\"\n\nMike couldn't keep himself from snorting softly at that. \"It really isn't. She's pretty healthy. She could have thirty more years easily. I mean, sure, I could lose her before that, but she could lose me too. A car accident, or something else. My mom wasn't much more than ten years older than I am now when the cancer got her.\"\n\n\"Ah,\" Zali'thurg said, in a strange tone." }, { "from": "human", "value": "He didn't seem inclined to say more, so Mike pushed on." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"And the thing is, we humans celebrate life. I don't think it's because we're short-lived, or anything like that. I guess it could be, but… we just value the time we've got with each other. What else is the point? If I only had ten more years with her, and I avoided her so it'd hurt less when I lost her, I wouldn't have the joy of knowing her those ten years. Even if I only had ten months—I'd want to see her even more. Make the most of the time we have.\"\n\nZali'thurg had half-turned away at this point, the desk light casting a strange shadow on his face. Mike put his knitting bag into his suitcase and zipped it.\n\n\"I don't know how you could bear to be this far from her if you care about her so much,\" Zali'thurg said abruptly." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Mike shrugged. \"That's… also how humans are,\" he said." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Right now, I've got a good job out here. Loving my family isn't going to stop me from doing things I like in a city I love, even if it means we see less of each other. That's just normal.\" He paused. \"Is that not how dragons do it?\" he asked carefully. \"Do you… have difficulty getting attached?\"\n\n\"We…\" Zali'thurg pulled his tail of hair over his shoulder, combing talons through it." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"We get attached too easily.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "That wasn't the answer Mike expected. \"Too easily?\" He tried to keep it a soft question, reluctant to sound too incredulous, in case Zali'thurg took offense and refused to say more.\n\n\"Not… usually to other dragons, but to things. To humans. We bond quickly if we don't watch ourselves,\" Zali'thurg said, tone cool, regal. \"This is why we have hoards. It is why in your distant legends of our past, we would steal humans—whatever human we took our fancy to—and keep them locked away from the world. That you can stay out here, across the country, and still make the most of your visits with her, that seems… very difficult to me. Very painful. If I let myself want to spend time with her, I would want to spend all the time with her. She would already be so close to the end of her life, even in the blush of youth, that I would be afraid to lose any of that time at all.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Mike let out a slow breath through his teeth, considering how to address that gulf between what Zali'thurg was describing and how humans usually felt." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "At least he'd had practice now in sort of being an ambassador of humanity. \"I mean that… makes sense for dragons. But… what you're describing is something that I'd call kind of unhealthy in a human.\"\n\n\"Unhealthy,\" Zali'thurg repeated.\n\n\"Just, it must have been hard for those people who were kidnapped by dragons. I mean, humans need space. Boundaries. Room for our own interests and stuff. Ignoring the stealing her part, I mean, even if the princess really liked the dragon, I'd think she'd want some space. She's gotta live her life, not his.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"We are different creatures,\" Zali'thurg said." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Perhaps incompatible.\" He seemed abruptly to notice the time, glancing at the clock and sucking a breath in, before he stood. \"If I keep you here longer, the car might not get you to your bus in good time, especially if there's traffic. I'll go get your money.\"\n\n\"Uh, sure,\" Mike said, startled. But Zali'thurg was right, and time was ticking." }, { "from": "human", "value": "He grabbed his suitcase." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Contact my backup if anything happens while I'm on vacation, but otherwise I'll see you when I'm back. Alright, Zee?\"\n\n\"Of course,\" Zali'thurg said, already to the door. He cast a cool look back over his shoulder. \"And I suppose I'll let you continue to call me that atrocious name if you really insist on repeating it, Mike.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Ah. He had noticed." }, { "from": "system", "value": "Your next one should be approximately one sentence." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Mike grinned all the way out of the door and into the car." } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "The user will write a bit then you need to write around 4 sentences continuing directly from the user's text. Try to mimic the style of Meredith Katz.Produce 4 sentences using the prose and structure of Meredith Katz every time its your turn using what the user wrote as a seed." }, { "from": "system", "value": "Produce a starting prompt please." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Afterwards, they curled together in the heat of Zali'thurg's jungle-like bedroom in his enormously strange bed on top of a pile of gold. Zali'thurg said, \"I was thinking about what it might be like to live together.\"\n\nThat was… sudden. Mike's stomach clenched; he didn't want to reject this, but moving too fast might be dangerous for them both, given what Zali'thurg had said about dragon attachment. \"Uh,\" he said. \"I can't just—I'm in line for a promotion within the next year at work, and supporting myself is really important to me, so moving out here might be—\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Oh,\" Zali'thurg said, \"No. Shut up.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He put a palm over Mike's mouth, eyes glittering a little, but his smile was both resigned and warm, genuine. \"Let me finish.\"\n\n\"Mmh.\" Mike relaxed a little, allowing himself to trust in that expression.\n\nZali'thurg moved his hand when it was clear Mike wouldn't interrupt. \"While I myself would be fine keeping you here, you've made your position clear,\" he said, tone still remarkably soft." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"You also made it clear that we should talk about the things we are thinking about. Will you permit me to do so, then?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Fair point. \"Okay,\" Mike said. \"Go on. What were you going to say?\"\n\nSlowly stroking Mike's hair, Zali'thurg said, \"We already discussed the possibility of my visiting you sometime.\" He drew a ragged breath, clearly a little nervous." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"If that goes well, then… in some months, I could look at purchasing a house in your city and selling my own. I would need to get one large enough to hold my hoard, of course, but I would also make sure it was large enough for you.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Mike's eyes widened. \"Zee…\"\n\nZali'thurg tilted his head slightly, watching Mike with an expression that was softer than Mike had seen on him before. \"Assuming our relationship goes well, and… and that your cat likes me, and that we continue to talk out any problems or misunderstandings, and all those things that would allow you to move in with somebody else... I could be the one to make myself more available to you. Then you can continue to do the things you consider important. Is that more to your liking?\"\n\nMike's heart seemed to clench, his throat tightening enough that he almost couldn't get words out." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Zali'thurg had listened, and understood, and it made the future seem a lot more possible." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "If it all went well, if that all worked out… he didn't want to get ahead of himself, didn't want to assume it would when it wasn't proven yet.\n\nBut if it did, it would actually open more doors for him. Having support he could rely on was completely different than dropping everything to depend on someone else. It would mean that there was a lot more he could do with his life than just work CS, more than just always trying to find the next promotion." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Anything to allow him to save money so he could do the things he found important." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "It might be possible to have it all: Zali'thurg as his lover and dreams to pursue.\n\nIt was a lot to think about—but he was leaving Zali'thurg hanging, his eyes searching Mike's face, his expression nervous.\n\nMike put a hand to Zali'thurg's cheek, stroking his finely-scaled cheekbone with a thumb. \"Yeah,\" Mike said, roughly." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Absolutely perfect. I'm sure Josephine will love you, she's a sucker for attention.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Hope flared in Zali'thurg's eyes. \"Animals don't always,\" he warned Mike. \"I am, after all, a much larger, more dangerous creature and animals know these things.\"\n\n\"Even if she didn't love you, she'd get used to you,\" Mike said, trying to make Zali'thurg believe it." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"And my stepmother and father already know about you—\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"They already know?\" Zali'thurg interrupted in a strange tone.\n\nMike made a face, a bit embarrassed. \"I might have talked about my feelings for you a little,\" he muttered. \"But that's a good thing, right? Everyone who matters knows and is fine with it. So you won't have to compete for my attentions as long as you're letting me have… well, anything else I need to pay attention to.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"That does sound nice,\" Zali'thurg admitted." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He leaned his chin on Mike's shoulder and huffed a soft breath of hot air onto his neck. \"If it works out. I'll be anxious until it does, so you'd better be prepared to endure that.\"\n\n\"I will, I will,\" Mike said. \"I'll be anxious too, you know?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "But he couldn't feel anxious, not right now." }, { "from": "system", "value": "Next message should be approximately 1 sentence." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "With that stress gone, drowsiness was washing over him, and he closed his eyes, letting the warmth and rhythm of Zali'thurg's breathing lull him to sleep." } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Today you will be acting as a writing assistant, your partner will send something and you will write the next four sentences." }, { "from": "system", "value": "Produce a starting prompt please." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Charlie and Jill had met in the dining room for their last dinner in the Red House. Tomorrow the schooner would come from Martinique; tomorrow they would depart for England. Was it only a night ago that they had dined, he with apprehension, she with a restless anticipation, to the beat of a Carib drum? To Charlie, tonight should have been a time to rejoice; Curk was dead; the sharks had left the lagoon." }, { "from": "human", "value": "The Caribs, bereft of their leader, had departed from the island in their dugout canoes on another lap of their journey to oblivion." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "But what to him had been a victory had been to Jill a tragedy. She had lost her father; she had lost her adopted people, loved in spite of their degeneracy; and Charlie could not rejoice. He could only try to consolé.\n\nShe sat with moist eyes, gallantly withholding her tears, and she might have been one of those English girls, brave and silent, who sent their sweethearts, brothers, and fathers to die in England's interminable wars." }, { "from": "human", "value": "He was glad that she did not know the full and ghastly circumstances of her father's death." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "She only knew that Charlie had come to the Red House in the dead of night, looking like a drowned sailor, and found her with Elizabeth as they sobbed in each other's arms, for him, not Curk, because they thought that he had drowned in the lagoon.\n\n\"Elizabeth, Jill,\" he had gasped. \"Curk is dead.\" He was too weary to delay his shattering news, but at least he could soften it with evasions and omissions. \"Gloomer took me to a half-submerged cave in the mangrove swamp, but Curk came after me. We fought on a ledge and he fell into the water. Gloomer killed him to save my life.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Jill had shrieked and run from the room." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Dear God, we must hide you,\" Elizabeth had cried. \"The Caribs will want your scalp.\"\n\n\"Not any more. They intercepted me on my way here from the swamp. I told them what had happened—there was nothing else I could do—and took them to Curk's body. I thought they would kill me on the spot, but they seemed to lose all spirit. They didn't throw spears at Gloomer and they didn't try to stop me from coming to you. They almost seemed afraid of us. I think they felt as if their god had let them down, and they were disgraced because of him. Disgraced and frightened.\"\n\nBut that was last night." }, { "from": "human", "value": "He had waited for Jill all morning, gone to look for her in the afternoon, and found her in the banyan tree." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He had even dared the tarantulas to bring her back with him. She had neither reproached nor questioned him.\n\nShe had scarcely spoken to him. Now, at last, she spoke in a firm if wistful voice." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"I saw Curk try to kill you, Charlie. I was just at the edge of the beach when he flung you over the cliff. You see, I had lingered to watch the sharks. They seemed so beautiful and peaceful when I swam with them. I thought they were my friends. Believe me, I didn't know what he meant to do. When you killed him, you and Gloomer were simply protecting yourselves.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"You mustn't think harshly of your father,\" Charlie said. He had never grown used to hearing her speak of \"Curk\" instead of \"Father.\" \"It's true he tried to sacrifice me. But I honestly believe that he felt he was sending me directly to his god. It was the greatest honor he could pay to an Englishman.\"\n\n\"I try to think of it that way. You see, I still love him, and I couldn't if I thought he was only cruel.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Cruel isn't a word for a man like Curk. He didn't think in terms of good and bad, kind and cruel, but of strength and weakness.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"I know that, Charlie. And I was getting to be like him, wasn't I? But I like your way better now. You're strong and good. When we get to England, will I ever see you? Will you come down from Cambridge to see the girl who dressed like a pirate?\"\n\n\"As often as I can I\"\n\n\"I know you will as long as I'm with mother,\" she said without reproach. \"You do love her, don't you?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Yes.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"I must pack now. All the gowns I never wore. I shall have to wear them in London. Do they still wear wigs at the balls?\"\n\n\"Only the masquerades.\"\n\n\"On the voyage home, I will let my hair grow out. It grows fast and I should be presentable in a few months.\"\n\n\"You're more than presentable as you are. In a few months you'll be ravishing. The young men will flock around you like bees around a shower-of-gold tree.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Do you know, I've never been farther than Martinique.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"You've a lot to see. But then, you've seen a lot, too. Right here on Oleandra.\"\n\n\"I could be content here, I think. I wouldn't miss the Caribs. Did you see how they turned away from me after Curk was dead? And how they carried their belongings down to the sea and loaded their dugouts and sailed away without even saying goodbye? They had only tolerated me because of Curk.\"\n\n\"He was their soul.\"\n\n\"Now they're soulless. They'll settle on another island and grow lazier and meaner, and get themselves killed off completely. And I did like them so much! I guess I saw them through Curk's eyes. As they had once been, in the old days. As they were at the festival, when Curk was praying to Tark. Charlie, will you excuse me? I don't want you to see me cry again.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "She fled from the table and he sat alone in the forlorn, beautiful, beloved room where he had loved a woman and liked a girl, grieved for his mother and rejoiced in his friendship for me," }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Gloomer. He sat alone with the spirit of William Morris, with the oaken table and the red sideboard, and the tall, raftered ceiling.\n\nHe was lying in bed, his body a confusion of aches from his recent flight, his mind a confusion of thoughts in which the overriding thought was a question. Should he visit Elizabeth in the bedroom where she had secluded herself all day? He did not know if she were grieving for the death of Curk or rejoicing in her liberation; he did not know if she were waiting for him or avoiding him." }, { "from": "human", "value": "The usually decisive Charlie felt himself inappropriately cast in the role of Hamlet instead of Childe Roland." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Really, he thought, I have no right to intrude unless she sends for me. After all, when she wants someone she's rarely reticent. On the other hand, she may feel called on to mourn for the sake of appearances, when what she really wants is to, well, to visit with me.\n\n\"Master.\" It was Telesphorus, taper in hand, hovering in the door and looking as if he would flee should Charlie so much as raise his voice." }, { "from": "human", "value": "He was not accustomed to disturbing English gentlemen, in their thoughts or in their sleep." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Yes, Telesphorus. Have you a message for me?\" The boy always looked so thin and woebegone that Charlie felt an urge to sit him down at a table and fatten him with partridges and puddings.\n\nThe thin little face brightened in the voluminous folds of his hood. His bare feet projected as usual from his robe, but looked as if they might be withdrawn as quickly as the feelers of a snail." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"The mistress says, will you come to her room, please?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Charlie was already on his feet and lighting a taper from the one in Telesphorus' hands. ...\n\nShe had not only retired, she had drawn the curtains around her bed. The room lay in darkness except for Charlie's taper and a thin mist of moonlight.\n\n\"Put out the candle, my dear. I've been weeping, I'm afraid. I don't want you to see my bloodshot eyes.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "She squeezed his hand and drew him between the curtains, which fell into place with a silken rustle and closeted them in private night." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Dearest Charlie, what horrors you've seen. And because of me.\"\n\nHe could scarcely see her in the dim light. She seemed not a woman but a disembodied spirit, and he felt like the knight forsaken on the cold hillside by La Belle Dame Sans Merci. There was not even a scent of frangipani to make her tangible." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Only when he took her in his arms did he feel assured of her presence." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Elizabeth, it's you who have seen the horrors. For fifteen years. A man like Curk—\"\n\n\"A man? I know what he was, my dear. You were right to keep the truth from Jill. But I can guess what really happened. How he came after you, and not as a man. And how he died in combat with Gloomer. I've suspected the truth for years. There are Carib folktales about such beings. But I told myself they were cruel, stupid myths. How could I live with such a one and know the truth about him?\"\n\n\"Is it over now; the horror, I mean? Is Jill really free of him? I don't mean of loving him—after all, he was her father—but of becoming like him?\" Charlie asked.\n\n\"She was never in danger herself. Only the males are so afflicted, or honored, in the eyes of the Caribs. That was the reason Curk wanted me to bear him a son. When I failed, he wanted a grandson.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"And if Jill should marry in England and have a son?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"She can bear a dozen sons without danger of perpetuating the... affliction. Only had she been with child—a male child—when she swam with the sharks would there have been a danger. You see, the ritual was more than prayers and torchlight. It was actually meant to be a transformation of the unborn child. I know as much from the folk tales. And because I myself once swam with the sharks, except that I loathed and feared them, while Jill adores them, or did, until they threatened you. That was before I took to my bed. That was why I took to my bed. And because of Curk's rage when I bore him a daughter. Had I bom him a son—\"\n\n\"He would have been like Curk?\"\n\n\"Yes.\"\n\nCharlie shook his head." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"No one would believe us in England, or even in Martinique. There's nothing in Darwin's science to account for such beings. He writes of evolution. This is devolution.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Nonetheless, they are very real. There were similar beings in Europe before the Church destroyed them. We called them werewolves. Darwin is right, I think, that men evolved from the beasts, but from many beasts—wolves, bears, sharks—and not just apes. In Curk's case, we have both the evolving man and the ancestral beast in the same person.\"\n\nHe held her with a wild tenderness. \"Don't talk about him any more. Leave him where he belongs. In the past. In the world's past.\"\n\nShe made a faint pretense of pushing him away from her, but quickly yielded to his insistent arms." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Charlie, I am fifty years old. You are nineteen. Here, we can love each other and no one will ridicule us. In England, we would be ridiculous. Like a French couple. One of those aging literary ladies like George Sand with her young lover.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Then we'll stay here. But you don't look aging, you look blooming! And I can grow a mustache and look at least twenty-five. No one would say a thing except how lucky I was to win such a beautiful bride.\"\n\n\"My beauty is very important to you, isn't it, my dear?\"\n\n\"I love your proud, gallant soul. But I love your beauty too. How can I reach your soul except through your body?\"\n\n\"Keats said much the same thing to Fanny Brawne, and both of you are right, of course. 'Why may I not speak of your Beauty, since without that I could never have loved you. I cannot conceive any beginning of such love as I have for you but Beauty.'\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Charlie continued the letter without a pause. \" 'Thee may be a sort of love for which, without the least sneer at it, I have the highest respect and can admit it in others; but it has not the richness, the bloom, the full form, the enchantment of love after my own heart.'\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"You knew it, by heart, of course. I knew that you would. It's impossible for young men to love any other way, and I must confess that your own kind soul would not have stirred me so much if you had looked like Telesphorus' father instead of your golden self. But blooming or not, I can't stay on Oleandra with you now. Jill must return to England for an education and eventually a marriage.\"\n\n\"Can't I still tutor her on Oleandra? That was the reason you brought me here.\"\n\n\"It's a little awkward when mother and daughter are in love with the same young man. And I myself have English yearnings for the opera, the theatre, the ballroom." }, { "from": "human", "value": "The Season in London and the Season at Bath." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Icicles under the eaves. Daffodils bringing the spring. 'O to be in England now that April's there...\n\n\"Then I'm going with you, and I promise to pester you until you become my bride!\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Your bride? Charlie, you're still a moralist at heart, aren't you? You want to make me an honest woman. I'm deeply touched. But hearth fires don't become me. Neither does arguing, my dear. Stay with me tonight. Tomorrow you may change your mind about several things.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He was awakened by the chirping of sugar birds among the morning glories. He opened the curtains to the bed and walked to the window. The diminutive birds, like winged daffodils, flickered among the blossoms and shook the dew from the petals into miniken showers.\n\n\"Elizabeth, wake up! The birds have come back. And you have your daffodils!\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "She stirred toward wakefulness." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "A sunbeam fell on her face. He gasped and she opened her eyes.\n\n\"I'm sorry, my dear. I can see that you see. I wish it were otherwise. I wish I were what you loved.\"\n\nShe was still beautiful as a woman of fifty; she would have challenged a Michelangelo to capture the complexity of character, the variety of experience in the lines of her forehead and the wrinkles around her eyes." }, { "from": "human", "value": "She was a woman who had sometimes been bitter and sometimes unfaithful, sometimes happy and usually kind; an unloving wife but a loving if not always wise mother." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He was not frightened of her, but he was frightened for her. On this island of dark miracles, shock and grief, he supposed, had aged her in two nights.\n\nShe drew him beside her and touched his cheek with moth-light fingers. \"Don't be sad. I wanted you to see me like this. This is the way I am. The beauty you loved was an illusion. You once called me the Lady of the Frangipanis. I am such a lady in a very literal sense. When Curk first came to me— it was my first visit to his island—he brought me a tiny vial of transparent blue elixir like a draught from the sea above a coral reef in the morning sun.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\" 'The Spaniards looked for a fountain of youth,' he said." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "'It was all around them and they never even saw it. It was in the nectar of the flowers they trampled under their boots. Frangipani and shower-of-gold and... but the rest is my secret. How old do you think I am?'" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\" 'Thirty-five? Forty?" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "There are no guides in your face. Not the least wrinkled. Only your eyes look somehow... very old/ I told him.\n\n\" 'I am seventy-four/ he answered." }, { "from": "human", "value": "'Would you like to look always as you do now?" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "I can't promise you immortality—you will live perhaps to a hundred. But your skin will maintain the illusion of youth until you die. One drop a day, and time will be your friend.'\n\n\" 'And what do you ask in return?'" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\" 'I want to make love to an English woman and I want her to bear my child.'" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Thus I was bound to him, Charlie, in spite of his cruelties, and also because I loved him. He could have had me without any gift of youth, but he thought that he had to buy me. He thought of English women as high and proud, a race of conquerers and colonizers who looked upon Caribs, even their kings, as savages who needed to be civilized. Later I could have escaped my desire for him, but not my wish to be desirable. Charlie, I love all beautiful things. A sonnet by Mrs. Browning. A tapestry woven by William Morris. I can't be wrinkled and old and forgotten. Do you understand?\"\n\n\"Of course I do,\" he faltered, as pity warred with desire. \"But old things are usually best.\" \"Only on a shelf with other old things.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"But I don't love you for your face, Elizabeth!\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"You love me for my soul? Perhaps. But you have to look through my face to see my soul. You yourself have said as much. I don't say that you must love me less now. But differently. Look upon me as one who understood your grief for your mother and almost but not quite managed to fill her place.\"\n\nHe took her in his arms and she held him with a last wild yearning.\n\n\"Goodbye, my dear, goodbye. We shall never meet again like this, but I do love you, Charlie.\"\n\nThey stood in the rocky enclave facing the sea, where Charlie had landed one month, one love, ago." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Charlie, Elizabeth, and Jill; the old man and Telesphorus tethering the donkeys to outcroppings of rock." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Except for Telesphorus and his father, who would stay on the island and care for the house, they were going back to England. Charlie was going back to Cambridge. (Oh, my friend, how may I follow you to those icy northern seas? Look in the wake of whatever ship you board, and I will begin the journey to bring you luck, but England is far and her seas are bleak, in spite of the Gulf Stream's warmth.)" }, { "from": "human", "value": "The sailors were rowing manfully and swearing whenever a wave broke across their bow, and no doubt wondering what had happened to those shifty Caribs whose one skill and one duty was coming to meet the schooner." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Charlie was alternately waving encouragement to them and trying to coax Elizabeth to take a seat on a rock which he had brushed clean for her at the cost of ruining his handkerchief, a bright blue square of silk which was now diminished to brown.\n\n\"You must sit down and rest,\" he urged. \"You know how it tires you to ride a burro.\"\n\n\"I'm too excited to sit.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Brilliant as bougainvillea in a gown of many colors, she was smiling and waving to the men in the boat and looking as if she never went to bed until morning, and not at all when she could dance or play chemin-de-fer." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Not only had she partaken generously of her elixir—two drops instead of one—and repaired the ravages of her brief abstinence, she had sent Telesphorus to search Curk's house, and the staunch little fellow, rooting through the loft, had returned with several precious flagons, a supply for many years, which Elizabeth promptly designated 'My special wine—nobody else likes it.'\n\nIn such a sea, on such a precipitous island, a longboat could not land; she could merely hover and try not to crash. The stalwart if simian rowers, at the expense of three broken oars and uncountable twisted muscles, somehow managed to hold her off the rocks. Their oaths turned to cries of delight when they recognized Elizabeth, the mysterious lady of Frangipanis come to welcome them or rather, to judge by her trunks, come to return with them to Martinique." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Boarding the boat would have been worse than a problem, it would have been an impossibility for Elizabeth had she remained a bedridden invalid." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "But when a lusty young seaman held out his arms to her, she made the considerable leap across several frothing feet of water to land and linger within his harboring arms. Jill, of course, had no difficulty. With the grace of a flying fish, she jumped and landed to the cheers though not the embraces of the sailors. Once Charlie had followed her (as yet he was lingering on the island), the rowers would deposit them aboard the schooner and then return for their trunks, small ones in view of the traveling conditions, which would somehow be handed or heaved from shore (and hopefully not spilled) by Telesphorus and his father." }, { "from": "human", "value": "The old man was red-eyed and Telesphorus was openly bawling at the loss of their beloved mistress." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Goodbye, my dears,\" Elizabeth called. \"Keep the house ready for Jill and me, and we'll come back to you, we promise.\" Then, as a seeming afterthought, \"And mind you load my 'special wine' carefully. Davy Jones doesn't need it, and neither do the sharks!\"\n\nAll this time Charlie had lingered on the shore, though by now the sailors were swearing at him like the Caribs on his arrival." }, { "from": "human", "value": "He knelt on a rock, leaned over the water, and gave me a parting pat even while foam from the surf splattered his face." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He did not know that I intended to follow him to England (hoped to, I should say). He would never have allowed me to attempt so dangerous a trip.\n\n\"Gloomer,\" he said. \"I'm coming back one day. Will you still be in our lagoon?\"\n\n\"Gnu.\" How could I stay in the lagoon and also follow him to England?" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"What's that you say?\" he cried." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "To ease his mind, I told him my first falsehood. \"Iss.\"\n\n\"Goodbye, old friend. Best friend.\" His face was wet and not with the spray. Humans have one advantage over dolphins." }, { "from": "human", "value": "We have no tears to ease us out of our sadness and we seem to be smiling even when we are saddest." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "I swam under him as he jumped aboard the boat, and frolicked around the boat as it battled toward the schooner. I spun in the air, made those clicking noises which humans suppose to be laughter, and all in all attempted to tease my friend from his melancholy (and forget the tears I could not shed). But he looked at me with a wan, sorrowful smile; not at the island, not at the schooner, not even at the newly radiant Elizabeth, but at me, always at me, and his look was enough to break my heart.\n\nThey were almost at the schooner now." }, { "from": "human", "value": "The friendly captain was booming a welcome." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Seeing Elizabeth among his passengers, he straightened his cap and jacket, smoothed his whiskers, and strode to the gunwale to receive her aboard his ship.\n\n\"Elizabeth,\" Charlie said. \"Can you use a caretaker for the Red House? If you had a dependable one, you would never need to sell it. He would keep it up so well that you would want to come back for sure, at least for a visit now and then.\" \"Charlie, do you really want to stay?\"\n\n\"I'm afraid Gloomer will try to follow me all the way to England. He would never be happy in those cold northern waters. Besides, I love the house. You're coming back. You said so yourself.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"So am I,\" said Jill." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"After I've grown a bosom and learned some wiles from mother.\"\n\n\"You're fine as you are.\" He gave her a wet, brotherly kiss on the cheek.\n\n\"Your kiss says I'm not. But I shall expect a different kind when you see me again.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Stay, then, Charlie,\" said Elizabeth, oblivious to the rowers, who were more intent on this curious domestic drama than they were on reaching their ship." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"I'll miss you, though, in England. One's first love is very precious, and I am honored to have been your first. Equally precious is one's last love, and that is what you are to me.\"\n\nHe seized her hand and held it against his cheek. \"You won't be lonely in London?\"\n\nCharlie, Charlie, I wanted to cry." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Do you really think this beautiful, sentimental, and mischievous lady will ever be lonely in London or anywhere else, or want for young men to pay her court?" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "It was well that I said nothing, or that, had I spoken, I would not have been understood. In a way, I was unfair to her. She really believed that Charlie was her last love. Whatever she said, she believed at the time; it was just that she sometimes changed her mind." }, { "from": "human", "value": "He was already removing his clothes." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Shoes, middy jacket, and bell-bottom trousers, but not, fortunately, his under garments.\n\n\"Forgive me, Elizabeth and Jill. But I can't swim to shore with all this clutter.\"\n\nThe rowers had almost stopped rowing.\n\n\"What's the lad doin'?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Strippin' for a swim, I reckon.\"" }, { "from": "system", "value": "Next message should be approximately 5 sentences." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Before the ladies? Blimey, 'e's no gentleman. E's one of us!\"\n\nThen he was in the water, waving over his shoulder and calling a last goodbye to his departing friends, and turning to meet and greet me with a radiant, \"Hello, Gloomer, I've come back. I told you I would, didn't I?\"\n\n\"Isss.\"\n\nA big wave almost inundated him. I dove under him and he clasped my dorsal fin and we swam for the island and the passage and our own green lagoon." } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Task: The user will write a bit then you need to write around 4 sentences continuing directly from the user's text.\n\nAuthor style: Georgette Heyer" }, { "from": "system", "value": "Produce a starting prompt please." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Edward Yardley returned to Netherfold in a mood of dissatisfaction but with no apprehension that Damerel might prove to be his rival. He had not liked him, and could perceive nothing either in his manners or his appearance that might reasonably be supposed to take Venetia's fancy. Punctilious himself in every expression of civility, Edward considered that Damerel's easy carelessness was unbecoming in a man of rank; while his rather abrupt way of talking could only disgust. As for his appearance, it was no great thing, after all: his figure was good, but his countenance was harsh, with features by no means regular, and a swarthy complexion; and there was nothing particularly modish about his raiment." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Females, Edward believed, were often dazzled by an air of fashion; and had Damerel worn yellow pantaloons, Hessians of mirror-like gloss, a tightly waisted coat, a monstrous neckcloth, exaggerated shirt-points, rings on his fingers, and fobs dangling at his waist it might have occurred to Edward that he was a dangerous fellow." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "But Damerel wore a plain riding-coat and buckskin breeches, quite a modest neckcloth, and no other ornaments than a heavy signet ring, and a quizzing-glass: he was no Pink of fashion; he was not even a very down-the-road looking man, though report made him a first-rate driver: quite a top-sawyer, in fact. Edward, who had expected a Corinthian, was disposed to rate him pretty cheap: more squeak than wool, he thought, remembering some of the exotic stories which had filtered back to Yorkshire. He flattered himself that he had never believed the half of them: that noble Roman lady, for instance, who was said to have deserted husband and children to cruise with Damerel in the Mediterranean aboard the yacht which he had had the effrontery to christen Corinth; or the dazzling high-flyer, whose meteoric progress across liberated Europe under his protection had been rendered memorable by the quantites of fresh rose-petals he had caused to be strewn on the floors of her various apartments, and the sea of pink champagne provided for her refreshment. Edward, solemnly trying to compute the cost of this extravagant freak, had certainly not believed that tale; and now that he had met Damerel face to face he wholly discredited it." }, { "from": "human", "value": "He had not really been afraid that a sensible female would succumb to the lure of such trumpery magnificence, but when he rode away from the Priory there was an unacknowledged relief in his breast." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Damerel might try to make Venetia the object of his gallantry (though he had not seemed to be much impressed by her beauty), but Edward, who knew his own worth, could not feel that he stood in danger of being eclipsed in her eyes by such a brusque, bracket-faced fellow. Females were naturally lacking in judgment, but Edward considered Venetia's understanding to be superior to that of the generality of her sex, and although she had met few men the three whom she knew well—her father, Conway, and himself—must have provided her with a standard of manners and propriety by which she had enough sense to measure Damerel.\n\nThe worst feature of the affair, Edward decided, was the damage that would be done to her reputation if her daily visits to the Priory became known; and this possibility teased him so much that he told his mother the whole story.\n\nA meek little woman, Mrs. Yardley, so colourless that no one would have suspected how deep and jealous was her adoration of her only child." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Her skin was parchment, with thin, bloodless lips, and eyes of a shallow, faded blue; and her hair, which she wore neatly banded under a widow's cap, was of an indeterminate hue, between sand and gray." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "She was not a talker, and she listened to Edward without comment, and almost without expression. Only when he told her, a trifle too casually, that Venetia was visiting Aubrey daily at the Priory did a flicker of emotion show in her eyes, and then it was no more than a darting, lizard-like look, gone as quickly as it had appeared. He did not notice it, but went on explaining all the circumstances to her, not asking her opinion, but rather instructing her, as his habit was. When he paused she said: \"Yes,\" in the flat voice that offered no clue to her thoughts." }, { "from": "human", "value": "In general he would have been perfectly satisfied with this meagre response, but on this occasion he found it insufficient, because in telling her how unexceptionable it was for Venetia to visit the Priory when she had Nurse for a chaperon he had been arguing against his own convictions, and wanted reassurance." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"One couldn't expect her not to do so,\" he said. \"You know how devoted she is to Aubrey!\"\n\n\"Yes, indeed. He is very much obliged to her. I have always said so,\" she replied.\n\n\"Oh, as to that—! I should be glad to think it, but he is one who takes all for granted. The thing is that there is no harm in Venetia's visiting him.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Oh, no!\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Under the circumstances, you know, and with Nurse there—and it is not as if she were a young girl, after all. I do not see that there is anything in it to set people talking, do you?\"\n\n\"Oh, no! I am persuaded they will not.\"\n\n\"Of course, I cannot like her being thrown into acquaintanceship with such a man, but I fancy I made it plain to him how the matter stands—just hinted him away, you know, in case he had some notion of trying to attach her. Not that I have any great apprehension of it: I believe I am a pretty good judge, and it did not seem to me that he was at all struck by her.\"\n\n\"I expect she is not in his style.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "His countenance lightened. \"No, very likely she is not! No doubt he is bored by virtuous females. And she, you know, doesn't want for sense. Under that sportive playfulness she has true delicacy of character, and the tone of her mind is too nice to allow of her encouraging his lordship in any encroaching fancy.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Oh, no! I am persuaded she would not do so.\"\n\nHe looked relieved; but after fidgeting with the blind-cord for a few moments he said in a vexed tone: \"It is an awkward situation, however! I should be excessively reluctant to be obliged to be on terms of intimacy with Lord Damerel, even if we lived near enough to the Priory to make frequent visits to his house possible. In that event I should feel it to be my duty, perhaps— But to be riding thirty miles every day—there and back, you know!—is out of the question.\"\n\n\"Oh, yes, dear, you are very right! I don't think you should go there at all. I daresay Aubrey will be well enough to go home in a day or two, and it is not to be supposed that Lord Damerel will continue at the Priory for long. He never does so, does he?\"\n\nThis placid view of the matter did much to allay his uneasiness; and he was further relieved by the discovery, on the following evening, when he escorted his mother to a dinner-party at Ebbersley, that his hostess regarded it as a matter of no particular moment." }, { "from": "human", "value": "In this he was mistaken, but Lady Denny did not like sententious young men, and she took care to conceal the dismay she had felt ever since Sir John had broken the news to her." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Sir John had had it from Damerel, whom he had encountered in Thirsk, and had communicated it to her in the most casual way imaginable. When she had exclaimed in horror, he had stared at her with his brows raised; and when she had demanded what was to be done he had first required her to explain what she meant; and then, when he had received a pretty forthright explanation, he had continued to stare at her for a full minute, as though she had been talking gibberish; and had finally retired again into his book with a dryly uttered recommendation to her not to be so foolish.\n\nBut it was not she who was foolish, as she immediately pointed out to him. He might say what he liked (a generous permission of which he showed no disposition to avail himself) but she knew very well what was likely to come of throwing an inexperienced girl into the arms of a notorious libertine." }, { "from": "human", "value": "There was no need for Sir John to tell her that Damerel would make no improper advances to a lady in Venetia's situation: very likely he would not—though there could be no guessing what a man with such a reputation might do—but, pray, had he considered how extremely likely it was that he would induce the poor innocent to fall in love with him, and then go off, leaving her with a broken heart?" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Thus straitly questioned Sir John said No, he had not considered this. He did not think Venetia a poor innocent: she was five-and-twenty, a woman of superior sense, and calm disposition; and in his opinion she was very well able to take care of herself. He added that he trusted that her ladyship would refrain alike from making a great piece of work about nothing, and from meddling in what was no concern of hers.\n\nThis stupid sort of indifference could not be allowed to pass without rebuke; but after Lady Denny had dealt with it as it deserved she began to think it might contain perhaps a grain of truth, and that nothing very dreadful, after all, would come of Venetia's acquaintance with a rake." }, { "from": "human", "value": "In any event she did not mean to encourage Edward Yardley's pretensions, so when he said, in a grave tone, that doubtless she had heard of Aubrey's unfortunate accident she made light of the whole affair, even going so far as to say that she was thankful that a happy chance had taken Damerel to the spot, and that he had had the good sense to send immediately for Dr. Bentworth." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "This was going too far, and Edward's countenance assumed an expression of severity. Lady Denny turned from him to greet Mr. and Mrs. Trayne, but the scion of the house, observing his lengthening upper lip, eyed him scornfully, and uttered in a sinister undervoice: \"No need to put yourself about: Miss Lanyon knows she can rely on me!\"\n\nSince propriety forbade him to give young Mr. Denny a set-down Edward was obliged to pretend he had not heard this speech. His temper was ruffled, and his doubts returned; but during the course of the evening he derived a certain amount of consolation from Miss Denny, who confided to him that she sincerely pitied Venetia." }, { "from": "human", "value": "In her eyes, which were filled with the sentimental vision of a blonde and handsome soldier, Damerel was horridly ugly, quite old, and not at all conversable." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Poor Venetia!\" said gentle Clara. \"She will be worn-out with civility, and bored to tears, I daresay! He hardly spoke to Emily or me when Papa brought him home once, and to Mama he talked the merest commonplace. That will never do for Venetia, will it? For she is so lively, and she is used, besides, to converse with you, and Aubrey. You are all of you so very clever!\"\n\nEdward was pleased, but he replied with an indulgent smile at feminine simplicity: \"I hope my conversation is rational, but I don't pretend to scholarship, you know. In that line I fear I am quite outshone by Aubrey!\"\n\n\"Of course he is very bookish, isn't he?\" agreed Clara." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"That is how I should describe him, I own, but Lord Damerel, I apprehend, considers his intellect to be remarkable.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Does he? Yes, I expect it is, for I am sure I don't understand above half the things he says. But you are very well-informed too, and you express yourself much more clearly, so that I am able to follow your arguments, even if I am not clever enough to take part in them.\"\n\nHe had too great a regard for the truth to reassure her on this head, but he told her very kindly that he had no great liking for blue-stockings, and amused her with a paradox: that the wisest of her sex did not aspire to be clever. She laughed heartily at this, exclaiming: \"There! That is precisely what I meant when I said that Venetia would find Lord Damerel a bore! I daresay he would never think of saying anything as witty!\"\n\nSo, while Lady Denny was trying to persuade herself that Venetia had too much commonsense to fall in love with a rake, Edward went home cheered by the vision of her being bored by Damerel's lack of conversation." }, { "from": "human", "value": "And since neither of them set eyes on her for a considerable period this peaceful complacency remained undisturbed by any knowledge of the glow of happiness which was giving an added bloom to the lovely Miss Lanyon's beauty." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Aubrey remained for ten days at the Priory, and even the weather conspired to make them halcyon days for his sister. There was only one wet and chilly day in all the ten, and then the gold of the mellowing landscape crept into the house, for Damerel had a fire kindled in the library, and its light, flickering over the tooled backs of the volumes that lined the room from wainscot to cornice, made them glow like turning leaves. He carried Aubrey down, and laid him on a sofa, and they played three-handed cribbage, pored over books of engravings, discovered rare treasures on the crowded shelves, and argued hotly on every imaginable subject, from the esse of material things to the proposition that a black horse with no spot of white upon him must necessarily be full of mischief and misfortunes. Then Damerel brought out his Grecian sketch-book, setting Aubrey in a blaze; and Nurse, established by the window with her interminable tatting, looked over her spectacles at the group by the fire, and was satisfied." }, { "from": "human", "value": "The Lanyons had their heads together over a book of pictures, Venetia on the floor beside the sofa, and Aubrey explaining them to her, and the pair of them looking up every now and then at his lorship and pelting him with questions as he stood leaning over the back of the sofa." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Nurse saw them as children, and Damerel as an adult person, like herself, goodnaturedly allowing them to tease him with their questions. Perhaps it was wrong to let them form the habit of such easy intercourse with a sinner, but although the Scriptures warned one that the wicked were like a troubled sea, whose waters cast up mire and dirt, they also yielded some pretty pungent warnings against backbiters and unrighteous witnesses. Every neighbour will walk with slanders, said the prophet Jeremiah, and one had only to cast an eye over the district to know how true that was. Nurse was much inclined to think that his lordship had been a victim of false report." }, { "from": "human", "value": "If anyone were to ask her, all she could say was that she took people as she found them, and she had found him just what any gentleman of his age ought to be, behaving more like an uncle to Miss Venetia and Mr. Aubrey than a seducer, and understanding much better than most gentlemen how hard a task it was to take care of such a headstrong couple." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "If it was true that he had once run off with a married lady—well, it had happened a great many years ago, and Nurse knew what to think of such ladies: hussies, that's what they were, and heaven help the young man they got their claws into! And if it were true that there had been nasty goings-on at the Priory only one year ago—well, the Scriptures adjured the wicked to forsake his way, and perhaps that was what his lordship had done. There were no nasty goings-on now, that was all Nurse knew.\n\nIt had taken Damerel three days to bring Nurse round his thumb: cutting a wheedle, Aubrey called it, when he had almost brought the trap down on him by going into stifled laughter at hearing Damerel agreeing with her that it was of no use to muffle all the furniture in holland covers, and hope to keep the moth away by such means; that indeed the chairs and the tables and the cabinets in the disused saloons ought to be well polished; that he would be only too glad if the whole house could be set in order." }, { "from": "human", "value": "That had been quite enough for Nurse, never permitted at Undershaw to encroach on Mrs. Gurnard's ground." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "But Mrs. Imber was a feckless, humble creature, who did as she was bid, and was grateful for advice and instruction. Nurse, who had gone to the Priory with the utmost reluctance, was enjoying herself enormously, and did not mean to leave it until, with the assistance of the Imbers, the gardener's wife, and a Stout Girl from the village, she had (as Imber resentfully phrased it)turned the house out of doors. For the first time since the days when she had reigned over the nursery at Undershaw she held undisputed sway, and just as soon as she had decided that there was nothing to be feared from Damerel she relaxed her vigilance, and trotted about the great, rambling house, harrying her slaves, so deeply absorbed in housewifery that she neither noticed the glow in Venetia's eyes nor suspected that when she supposed her to have gone home she was with Damerel, perhaps sitting in the garden, perhaps strolling along the river-bank, or allowing him to escort her back to Undershaw by the longest possible route.\n\nDamerel's groom and his valet both knew, but Nidd did not tell Nurse how many hours were spent in the Priory stables by Venetia's mare, or the cob she drove in the gig; and Marston did not tell her, when she asked him if Venetia had gone home, that she had done so in his master's company." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Nidd thought it was a queer set-out, but when he said as much to Marston he won no other response than a blank stare." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "But Marston thought it queer too, because it wasn't like his lordship to throw out lures to innocent young ladies, much less sit in their pockets. He was loose in the haft, but not as loose as that. Or maybe he was too fly to the time of day to meddle with virgins of quality: Marston did not know, but he did know that in all the years he had served his lordship he had never seen him dangling after such a lady as Miss Lanyon. He had never seen him behave to any of his loves as he was behaving to her, either; or known him to stay so quiet and sober." }, { "from": "human", "value": "He had not been as much as half-sprung since the day he carried Mr. Aubrey into the house, and that was a sure sign that he wasn't bored, or in one of his black moods." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He wasn't even restless, yet he hadn't meant to remain at the Priory above a day or two. They had been on their way to Lord Flavell's shooting-lodge, but they were not going there after all: he had told Marston that he had written to cry off. Were they going back to London, then, when Mr. Aubrey had left the Priory? His lordship had made no plans, but thought he should remain in Yorkshire for a while." }, { "from": "human", "value": "It might be that he was amusing himself with a new kind of flirtation, but in any other man it would have looked remarkably like courtship." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "If that was it, Marston wondered whether Miss Lanyon knew what sort of a life his lordship had led, and what that elder brother of hers would have to say to such a match.\n\nHe would have been shocked had he guessed how much Venetia knew, and how much she was entertained by some of Damerel's more repeatable adventures; and he would have been considerably astonished had he known on what terms of easy camaraderie this very odd couple stood.\n\nThey were fast friends: a stranger might have supposed them to be related, so frank and unceremonious were their interchanges, and so far removed from mere dalliance. Accepting, as a matter of tactics in the game few knew better than he how to play, the role of fidus Achates thrust upon him, Damerel soon found himself advising Venetia on knotty problems arising out of her stewardship of her elder brother's estates, or discussing with her the peculiar difficulties presented by her younger brother's apparent determination to allow his powerful mind to wear out his frail constitution." }, { "from": "human", "value": "He gave her better advice than he had ever put into practice, but told her bluntly that there was little she could do to divert Aubrey from his devouring passion." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"He has been too much alone. If it had been possible to have sent him to Eton he would no doubt have formed friendships there, but as it is he seems to have only two friends: yourself, and his old grinder—this parson he talks about: I forget his name. What he needs is to rub shoulders with sprigs of his own age and tastes—and to overcome his dread of being pitied or despised.\"\n\nShe gave him a speaking glance. \"Do you know, you are the first person ever to have perceived that he hates his lameness in that way? Even Dr. Bentworth doesn't properly understand, and I can only guess, because he doesn't speak of it. But he has talked to you, hasn't he? He told me the thing you said to him—that if you were offered the choice between a splendid body or a splendid mind you would choose the mind, because it would long outlast the body. I know he was a good deal struck, for he would not else have told me about it, and I was so grateful I could have embraced you!\"\n\n\"By all means!\" he said promptly. \"Do!\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "She laughed, but shook her head." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"No, I'm not funning. You see, it was exactly the right thing to have said, and that he talked to you at all about it showed me how much he likes you. In general, you know, he is very stiff with strangers, and when people like Lady Denny enquire after his health, or Edward helps him to get up out of his chair, he becomes quite rigid with fury.\"\n\n\"I should imagine he might! Is that what that gudgeon does?\"\n\n\"Yes, and say what I will to him he persists! It is all kindness, I know, but—\"\n\n\"Much that graceless scamp cares for kindness!\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"That's what I told Edward, but he thought it nonsensical. And your sort of kindness he does care for: I don't mean entering into what interests him only, but roasting him, and calling him rude names, and threatening to do the most brutal things to him if he won't swallow that horrid valerian!\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Is that your notion of kindness?\" he asked, in some amusement.\n\n\"Yes, and yours too, or you wouldn't do it. I expect it makes Aubrey feel that he is just the same as any other boy—or, at any rate, that you don't care a rush for his lame leg. It has done him a great deal of good to be with you— more good than I could ever do him, because I'm only a female. A sister, too, which makes it even harder.\"\n\n\"You are a good sister. I hope you may have your reward—but strongly doubt it. Don't let him hurt you! He's fond of you, but he's an egotist, my dear.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Oh, I know that!\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "she said cheerfully. \"But he's not as bad as Papa was, I assure you, or Conway! Aubrey would very likely put himself out to oblige me, if he ever thought of it, but Papa would not, and as for Conway, I don't think he can think of anyone but himself!\"\n\nIt was such remarks as this, delivered perfectly seriously, that kept him in a state of chuckling enjoyment, and made him call her his dear delight. She accepted the title with equanimity, but told him to take care not to say it within tongue-shot of Nurse. \"For it would be very mortifying for you to see your cajolery wasted, besides destroying all our comfort.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"I'll lay you odds she wouldn't come the ugly. She believes me to be in a state of grace.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"No, only approaching it—and that was merely because you supported her against Imber! You may not know it, but you suffered a set-back yesterday, when you wouldn't permit her to have the carpet in the library taken up to be beaten. She began to say things about the ungodly again, and Aubrey swears she told him that one sinner destroys much good.\"\n\n\"Since then, however, I have expressed my admiration of her tatting, and my credit is now high with her!\" he retorted.\n\n\"I wish it might be high enough for her to give it to you! There must be miles of it, for she has been tatting ever since I can remember, and very rarely gives any of it away. The dreadful thing is that she means it for whichever of us is the first to be married. The most lowering reflection!\"\n\n\"Perhaps,\" he said thoughtfully, \"I had better not make my credit too high! What do you advise? Shall I hold an orgy, ill-use Aubrey, or—just call you my dear delight within her hearing?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"That would lower your credit too much. Tell her that when you gave her to understand that you came into Yorkshire to redress your tenants' grievances—which I am very sure you did, for who else would have put such a preposterous notion into her head?—it was nothing but a fudge! Perhaps you had better not tell her, however, that you came because of that thing at Tattersall's, for she thinks racing very ungodly!\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"What thing at Tattersall's?\" he demanded. \"I haven't yet been floored by the hammer, if that's what you mean!\"\n\n\"No, no! At least, I don't know what it signifies, but it wasn't that! Conway spoke of it once—oh, Black Monday!\"\n\n\"Settling-day! No, I won't tell her that. I am always more or less in Dun territory, but this visit of mine isn't an attempt to shoot the crow! I am escaping from my aunts.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Why, what are they doing to you? Are you roasting me?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Not at all. They are bent on reestablishing me. There are three of 'em, and they are all antidotes. Two are unmarried, and live together—one's fubsy-faced, and t'other's a squeeze-crab; and the eldest is a widow, and the most intimidating female you ever beheld. She lives in a mausoleum in Grosvenor Square, rarely stirs out of it, but holds receptions, very like the Queen's Drawing-Rooms. She's clutchfisted, dresses like a quiz, has neither wit nor amiability, and yet by means unknown to me—unless it be by force of character, and I'll allow she has that!—has persuaded the ton that she is a second Lady Cork, to whose salons it is an honour to be invited.\"\n\n\"She sounds very disagreeable!\"\n\n\"She is very disagreeable. A veritable dragon!\"\n\n\"But why does she wish to reestablish you?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Oh, for two reasons! The first is that however black my sins may be I'm the head of the family, a circumstance by which she sets great store; and the second is that having issued a royal command to my cousin Alfred, who is also my heir, to present himself in Grosvenor Square for inspection, she made the shocking discovery that he was a member of the dandy-set—indeed, the pinkest of Pinks, a swell of the first stare! Not having the least guess that the old lady holds every Bond Street beau in the utmost abhorrence, the silly pigeon rigged himself out as fine as fivepence, and trotted round to Grosvenor Square looking precise to a pin: Inexpressibles of the most delicate shade of primrose, coat by Stulz, Hessians by Hoby, hat—the Bang-up—by Baxter, neckcloth—the Oriental, which is remarkable for its height— by himself. Add to all this a Barcelona handkerchief, a buttonhole as large as a cabbage, a strong aroma of Circassian hair-oil, the deportment of a dancing-master, and a lisp it took him years to bring to perfection, and you will perceive that Alfred is not just in the ordinary style!\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"I wish I might see him!\" she said, laughing. \"Did you, or is this make-believe?\"\n\n\"Certainly not! I didn't see him, but what he didn't describe to me my aunt did. Poor fellow! he was only bent on doing the pretty, but all his hopes were cut up! The breach was to have been healed—oh, I didn't mention, did I, that my aunts had quarrelled with his mother? I believe she offended them on the occasion of my uncle's obsequies, but as I was not present I don't know what crime she committed, though I wouldn't bet against the chance that she didn't render proper respect to their consequence. In any event, Alfred obeyed my Aunt Augusta's summons, confident that the exercise of a little address—coupled, of course, with his exquisite appearance—would decide not only her, but my Aunts Jane and Eliza as well, to make him their heir—which is a matter of very much more interest to him than his being my heir, pour cause! But alas! faced with the choice between a fop and a rip they preferred the rip—or they would, if I'd be comformable!\"\n\n\"Behave with propriety?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Worse! Marry a butter-toothed female with a pug-nose and a deplorable figure!\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "She laughed. \"Well, I daresay they wish you to be married, because that would be the most respectable thing you could do, and also, of course, on account of children, so that your cousin would be quite cut out—but I see no reason why she should be pug-nosed, or butter-toothed!\"\n\n\"Nor I, but she's both, I promise you. What's more, she's been an ape-leader for ten years at least. Do you wonder that I fled?\"\n\n\"No, but I do wonder that your aunts should have been so gooseish as to have proposed such a match to you! They must be quite addle-brained to suppose that you would look twice at any but the most ravishing females, for you have been used only to be in love with beauties for years and years! It is most unreasonable to expect people to change their habits in the twinkling of an eye.\"\n\n\"Very true!\" he agreed, admirably preserving his countenance." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"And Miss Amelia Ubley's eye has as much twinkle as may be seen in the eye of a fish.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Then on no account must you offer for her!\" she said earnestly. \"I am excessively sorry for her, poor thing, but she would be far happier as an old maid than as your wife! I shouldn't wonder at it if you made off with someone else before the bride-visits had all been paid, and only think how mortifying for her. How came your aunts to hit upon such an unsuitable female for you? They must have a great deal more hair than wit!\"\n\nHis lips twitched, but he replied gravely: \"I fancy they consider me to be past the age of romantic indiscretions. My Aunt Eliza, at all events, tells me that it is now time I settled-down. She drew for me a very moving picture of the advantages of becoming regularly established.\"\n\n\"I can see she did. It moved you all the way to Yorkshire! Pray, what are Miss Ubley's virtues?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Well—virtue!\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"That won't do in the least. Not if you mean that she's strait-laced, and she sounds to me as if she would be.\"\n\n\"That's what she both sounded and looked like to me. However, my aunts informed me that besides being of the first respectability she has superior sense, propriety of taste, and can be trusted to behave always just as she ought. Her fortune is as good as I have any right to expect; and I must remember that if she were not above thirty years of age, and an antidote, neither she nor her parents would entertain my proposal for a minute.\"\n\n\"What moonshine!\" exclaimed Venetia indignantly. There was a good deal of the sneer in the half-smile he threw her." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"No, that was true enough. I imagine I must rank high on the list of ineligible bachelors—which has this advantage: that there is no need for me to take care lest I fall a prey to a matchmaking mama. It is she who warns her daughter that if she should chance to find herself in company with me she must keep a proper distance.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Then you do go to parties?\" she asked. \"I am very ignorant about society, and what you call the ton, and when you said you were a social outcast I thought perhaps it meant you didn't go into polite circles at all.\"\n\n\"Oh, it isn't as bad as that!\" he assured her. \"I'm certainly not invited to run tame in houses where the daughters are of marriageable age, and I can think of nothing more unlikely than of being permitted to cross the sacred threshold of Almack's—unless, of course, I reformed my way of life, married Miss Ubley, and was sponsored by my Aunt Augusta into that holy of holies—but only the very highest sticklers go to the length of cutting my acquaintance! If anything were wanting to make me flee from Miss Ubley's vicinity it would be the dread of being dragged into precisely those circles from which I am most happy to be excluded!\"" } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "I'll be your writing partner today. I will set the scene, and you will continue the story with four sentences, channeling the voice and techniques of Jane Austen.i'll kick things off by writing a bit, then you'll take over and write the next four sentences in the distinctive voice of Jane Austen.Ive got a bit of writers block, im gonna send you something then keep it going four sentences at a time, also im going for a Jane Austen sorta thing." }, { "from": "system", "value": "Produce a starting prompt please." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The day passed much as the day before had done. Mrs. Hurst and Miss Bingley had spent some hours of the morning with the invalid, who continued, though slowly, to mend; and, in the evening, Elizabeth joined their party in the drawingroom. The loo table, however, did not appear. Mr. Darcy was writing, and Miss Bingley, seated near him, was watching the progress of his letter, and repeatedly calling off his attention by messages to his sister." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Mr. Hurst and Mr. Bingley were at piquet, and Mrs. Hurst was observing their game." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Elizabeth took up some needlework, and was sufficiently amused in attending to what passed between Darcy and his companion. The perpetual commendations of the lady either on his hand-writing, or on the evenness of his lines, or on the length of his letter, with the perfect unconcern with which her praises were received, formed a curious dialogue, and was exactly in unison with her opinion of each.\n\n\"How delighted Miss Darcy will be to receive such a letter!\"\n\nHe made no answer." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"You write uncommonly fast.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"You are mistaken. I write rather slowly.\"\n\n\"How many letters you must have occasion to write in the course of a year! Letters of business, too! How odious I should think them!\"\n\n\"It is fortunate, then, that they fall to my lot instead of to yours.\"\n\n\"Pray tell your sister that I long to see her.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"I have already told her so once, by your desire.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"I am afraid you do not like your pen. Let me mend it for you. I mend pens remarkably well.\"\n\n\"Thank you—but I always mend my own.\"\n\n\"How can you contrive to write so even?\"\n\nHe was silent." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Tell your sister I am delighted to hear of her improvement on the harp, and pray let her know that I am quite in raptures with her beautiful little design for a table, and I think it infinitely superior to Miss Grantley's.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Will you give me leave to defer your raptures till I write again? At present I have not room to do them justice.\"\n\n\"Oh, it is of no consequence. I shall see her in January. But do you always write such charming long letters to her, Mr. Darcy?\"\n\n\"They are generally long; but whether always charming, it is not for me to determine.\"\n\n\"It is a rule with me, that a person who can write a long letter with ease cannot write ill.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"That will not do for a compliment to Darcy, Caroline,\" cried her brother, \"because he does not write with ease. He studies too much for words of four syllables. Do not you, Darcy?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"My style of writing is very different from yours.\"\n\n\"Oh,\" cried Miss Bingley, \"Charles writes in the most careless way imaginable. He leaves out half his words, and blots the rest.\"\n\n\"My ideas flow so rapidly that I have not time to express them; by which means my letters sometimes convey no ideas at all to my correspondents.\"\n\n\"Your humility, Mr. Bingley,\" said Elizabeth, \"must disarm reproof.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Nothing is more deceitful,\" said Darcy, \"than the appearance of humility. It is often only carelessness of opinion, and sometimes an indirect boast.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"And which of the two do you call my little recent piece of modesty?\"\n\n\"The indirect boast; for you are really proud of your defects in writing, because you consider them as proceeding from a rapidity of thought and carelessness of execution, which, if not estimable, you think at least highly interesting. The power of doing any thing with quickness is always much prized by the possessor, and often without any attention to the imperfection of the performance. When you told Mrs. Bennet this morning, that if you ever resolved on quitting Netherfield you should be gone in five minutes, you meant it to be a sort of panegyric, of compliment to yourself; and yet what is there so very laudable in a precipitance which must leave very necessary business undone, and can be of no real advantage to yourself or any one else?\"\n\n\"Nay,\" cried Bingley, \"this is too much, to remember at night all the foolish things that were said in the morning. And yet, upon my honour, I believed what I said of myself to be true, and I believe it at this moment. At least, therefore, I did not assume the character of needless precipitance merely to show off before the ladies.\"\n\n\"I dare say you believed it; but I am by no means convinced that you would be gone with such celerity. Your conduct would be quite as dependent on chance as that of any man I know; and if, as you were mounting your horse, a friend were to say, 'Bingley, you had better stay till next week,' you would probably do it—you would probably not go—and, at another word, might stay a month.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"You have only proved by this,\" cried Elizabeth, \"that Mr. Bingley did not do justice to his own disposition. You have shown him off now much more than he did himself.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"I am exceedingly gratified,\" said Bingley, \"by your converting what my friend says into a compliment on the sweetness of my temper. But I am afraid you are giving it a turn which that gentleman did by no means intend; for he would certainly think the better of me, if, under such a circumstance, I were to give a flat denial, and ride off as fast as I could.\"\n\n\"Would Mr. Darcy then consider the rashness of your original intention as atoned for by your obstinacy in adhering to it?\"\n\n\"Upon my word, I cannot exactly explain the matter—Darcy must speak for himself.\"\n\n\"You expect me to account for opinions which you choose to call mine, but which I have never acknowledged. Allowing the case, however, to stand according to your representation, you must remember, Miss Bennet, that the friend who is supposed to desire his return to the house and the delay of his plan, has merely desired it, asked it without offering one argument in favour of its propriety.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"To yield readily—easily—to the persuasion of a friend is no merit with you.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"To yield without conviction is no compliment to the understanding of either.\"\n\n\"You appear to me, Mr. Darcy, to allow nothing for the influence of friendship and affection. A regard for the requester would often make one readily yield to a request, without waiting for arguments to reason one into it. I am not particularly speaking of such a case as you have supposed about Mr. Bingley. We may as well wait, perhaps, till the circumstance occurs, before we discuss the discretion of his behaviour thereupon. But in general and ordinary cases between friend and friend, where one of them is desired by the other to change a resolution of no very great moment, should you think ill of that person for complying with the desire, without waiting to be argued into it?\"\n\n\"Will it not be advisable, before we proceed on this subject, to arrange with rather more precision the degree of importance which is to appertain to this request, as well as the degree of intimacy subsisting between the parties?\"\n\n\"By all means,\" cried Bingley: \"let us hear all the particulars, not forgetting their comparative height and size; for that will have more weight in the argument, Miss Bennet, than you may be aware of. I assure you that if Darcy were not such a great tall fellow, in comparison with myself, I should not pay him half so much deference. I declare I do not know a more awful object than Darcy, on particular occasions, and in particular places; at his own house especially, and of a Sunday evening, when he has nothing to do.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Mr. Darcy smiled; but Elizabeth thought she could perceive that he was rather offended, and therefore checked her laugh." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Miss Bingley warmly resented the indignity he had received, in an expostulation with her brother for talking such nonsense.\n\n\"I see your design, Bingley,\" said his friend. \"You dislike an argument, and want to silence this.\"\n\n\"Perhaps I do. Arguments are too much like disputes. If you and Miss Bennet will defer yours till I am out of the room, I shall be very thankful; and then you may say whatever you like of me.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"What you ask,\" said Elizabeth, \"is no sacrifice on my side; and Mr. Darcy had much better finish his letter.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Mr. Darcy took her advice, and did finish his letter.\n\nWhen that business was over, he applied to Miss Bingley and Elizabeth for the indulgence of some music. Miss Bingley moved with alacrity to the piano-forte, and after a polite request that Elizabeth would lead the way, which the other as politely and more earnestly negatived, she seated herself.\n\nMrs. Hurst sang with her sister; and while they were thus employed, Elizabeth could not help observing, as she turned over some music books that lay on the instrument, how frequently Mr. Darcy's eyes were fixed on her." }, { "from": "human", "value": "She hardly knew how to suppose that she could be an object of admiration to so great a man; and yet that he should look at her because he disliked her was still more strange." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "She could only imagine, however, at last, that she drew his notice because there was a something about her more wrong and reprehensible, according to his ideas of right, than in any other person present. The supposition did not pain her. She liked him too little to care for his approbation.\n\nAfter playing some Italian songs, Miss Bingley varied the charm by a lively Scotch air; and soon afterwards Mr. Darcy, drawing near Elizabeth, said to her,—" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Do not you feel a great inclination, Miss Bennet, to seize such an opportunity of dancing a reel?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "She smiled, but made no answer. He repeated the question, with some surprise at her silence.\n\n\"Oh,\" said she, \"I heard you before; but I could not immediately determine what to say in reply. You wanted me, I know, to say 'Yes,' that you might have the pleasure of despising my taste; but I always delight in overthrowing those kinds of schemes, and cheating a person of their premeditated contempt. I have, therefore, made up my mind to tell you, that I do not want to dance a reel at all; and now despise me if you dare.\"\n\n\"Indeed I do not dare.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Elizabeth, having rather expected to affront him, was amazed at his gallantry: but there was a mixture of sweetness and archness in her manner which made it difficult for her to affront any body; and Darcy had never been so bewitched by any woman as he was by her." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He really believed that, were it not for the inferiority of her connections, he should be in some danger.\n\nMiss Bingley saw, or suspected, enough to be jealous; and her great anxiety for the recovery of her dear friend Jane received some assistance from her desire of getting rid of Elizabeth.\n\nShe often tried to provoke Darcy into disliking her guest, by talking of their supposed marriage, and planning his happiness in such an alliance.\n\n\"I hope,\" said she, as they were walking together in the shrubbery the next day, \"you will give your mother-in-law a few hints, when this desirable event takes place, as to the advantage of holding her tongue; and if you can compass it, do cure the younger girls of running after the officers. And, if I may mention so delicate a subject, endeavour to check that little something, bordering on conceit and impertinence, which your lady possesses.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Have you any thing else to propose for my domestic felicity?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Oh yes. Do let the portraits of your uncle and aunt Philips be placed in the gallery at Pemberley. Put them next to your great uncle the judge. They are in the same profession, you know; only in different lines. As for your Elizabeth's picture, you must not attempt to have it taken, for what painter could do justice to those beautiful eyes?\"\n\n\"It would not be easy, indeed, to catch their expression; but their colour and shape, and the eyelashes, so remarkably fine, might be copied.\"\n\nAt that moment they were met from another walk by Mrs. Hurst and Elizabeth herself.\n\n\"I did not know that you intended to walk,\" said Miss Bingley, in some confusion, lest they had been overheard." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"You used us abominably ill,\" answered Mrs. Hurst, \"running away without telling us that you were coming out.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Then taking the disengaged arm of Mr. Darcy, she left Elizabeth to walk by herself. The path just admitted three. Mr. Darcy felt their rudeness, and immediately said,—\n\n\"This walk is not wide enough for our party. We had better go into the avenue.\"" } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Task: The user will write a bit then you need to write around 4 sentences continuing directly from the user's text.\n\nAuthor style: Jane Austen" }, { "from": "system", "value": "Produce a starting prompt please." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The Bennets were engaged to dine with the Lucases; and again, during the chief of the day, was Miss Lucas so kind as to listen to Mr. Collins. Elizabeth took an opportunity of thanking her. \"It keeps him in good humour,\" said she, \"and I am more obliged to you than I can express.\" Charlotte assured her friend of her satisfaction in being useful, and that it amply repaid her for the little sacrifice of her time." }, { "from": "human", "value": "This was very amiable; but Charlotte's kindness extended farther than Elizabeth had any conception of:—its object was nothing less than to secure her from any return of Mr. Collins's addresses, by engaging them towards herself." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Such was Miss Lucas's scheme; and appearances were so favourable, that when they parted at night, she would have felt almost sure of success if he had not been to leave Hertfordshire so very soon. But here she did injustice to the fire and independence of his character; for it led him to escape out of Longbourn House the next morning with admirable sliness, and hasten to Lucas Lodge to throw himself at her feet. He was anxious to avoid the notice of his cousins, from a conviction that, if they saw him depart, they could not fail to conjecture his design, and he was not willing to have the attempt known till its success could be known likewise; for, though feeling almost secure, and with reason, for Charlotte had been tolerably encouraging, he was comparatively diffident since the adventure of Wednesday. His reception, however, was of the most flattering kind." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Miss Lucas perceived him from an upper window as he walked towards the house, and instantly set out to meet him accidentally in the lane." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "But little had she dared to hope that so much love and eloquence awaited her there.\n\nIn as short a time as Mr. Collins's long speeches would allow, every thing was settled between them to the satisfaction of both; and as they entered the house, he earnestly entreated her to name the day that was to make him the happiest of men; and though such a solicitation must be waved for the present, the lady felt no inclination to trifle with his happiness. The stupidity with which he was favoured by nature must guard his courtship from any charm that could make a woman wish for its continuance; and Miss Lucas, who accepted him solely from the pure and disinterested desire of an establishment, cared not how soon that establishment were gained.\n\nSir William and Lady Lucas were speedily applied to for their consent; and it was bestowed with a most joyful alacrity." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Mr. Collins's present circumstances made it a most eligible match for their daughter, to whom they could give little fortune; and his prospects of future wealth were exceedingly fair." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Lady Lucas began directly to calculate, with more interest than the matter had ever excited before, how many years longer Mr. Bennet was likely to live; and Sir William gave it as his decided opinion, that whenever Mr. Collins should be in possession of the Longbourn estate, it would be highly expedient that both he and his wife should make their appearance at St. James's. The whole family in short were properly overjoyed on the occasion. The younger girls formed hopes of coming out a year or two sooner than they might otherwise have done; and the boys were relieved from their apprehension of Charlotte's dying an old maid. Charlotte herself was tolerably composed." }, { "from": "human", "value": "She had gained her point, and had time to consider of it." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Her reflections were in general satisfactory. Mr. Collins, to be sure, was neither sensible nor agreeable: his society was irksome, and his attachment to her must be imaginary. But still he would be her husband. Without thinking highly either of men or of matrimony, marriage had always been her object: it was the only honourable provision for well-educated young women of small fortune, and, however uncertain of giving happiness, must be their pleasantest preservative from want." }, { "from": "human", "value": "This preservative she had now obained; and at the age of twenty-seven, without having ever been handsome, she felt all the good luck of it." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The least agreeable circumstance in the business was the surprise it must occasion to Elizabeth Bennet, whose friendship she valued beyond that of any other person. Elizabeth would wonder, and probably would blame her; and though her resolution was not to be shaken, her feelings must be hurt by such a disapprobation. She resolved to give her the information herself; and therefore charged Mr. Collins, when he returned to Longbourn to dinner, to drop no hint of what had passed before any of the family. A promise of secrecy was of course very dutifully given, but it could not be kept without difficulty; for the curiosity excited by his long absence burst forth in such very direct questions on his return, as required some ingenuity to evade, and he was at the same time exercising great self-denial, for he was longing to publish his prosperous love." }, { "from": "human", "value": "As he was to begin his journey too early on the morrow to see any of the family, the ceremony of leave-taking was performed when the ladies moved for the night; and Mrs. Bennet, with great politeness and cordiality, said how happy they should be to see him at Longbourn again, whenever his other engagements might allow him to visit them." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"My dear madam,\" he replied, \"this invitation is particularly gratifying, because it is what I have been hoping to receive; and you may be very certain that I shall avail myself of it as soon as possible.\"\n\nThey were all astonished; and Mr. Bennet, who could by no means wish for so speedy a return, immediately said,—\n\n\"But is there not danger of Lady Catherine's disapprobation here, my good sir? You had better neglect your relations than run the risk of offending your patroness.\"\n\n\"My dear sir,\" replied Mr. Collins, \"I am particularly obliged to you for this friendly caution, and you may depend upon my not taking so material a step without her Ladyship's concurrence.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"You cannot be too much on your guard. Risk any thing rather than her displeasure; and if you find it likely to be raised by your coming to us again, which I should think exceedingly probable, stay quietly at home, and be satisfied that we shall take no offence.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Believe me, my dear sir, my gratitude is warmly excited by such affectionate attention; and, depend upon it, you will speedily receive from me a letter of thanks for this as well as for every other mark of your regard during my stay in Hertfordshire. As for my fair cousins, though my absence may not be long enough to render it necessary, I shall now take the liberty of wishing them health and happiness, not excepting my cousin Elizabeth.\"\n\nWith proper civilities, the ladies then withdrew; all of them equally surprised to find that he meditated a quick return. Mrs. Bennet wished to understand by it that he thought of paying his addresses to one of her younger girls, and Mary might have been prevailed on to accept him. She rated his abilities much higher than any of the others: there was a solidity in his reflections which often struck her; and though by no means so clever as herself, she thought that, if encouraged to read and improve himself by such an example as hers, he might become a very agreeable companion." }, { "from": "human", "value": "But on the following morning every hope of this kind was done away." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Miss Lucas called soon after breakfast, and in a private conference with Elizabeth related the event of the day before.\n\nThe possibility of Mr. Collins's fancying himself in love with her friend had once occurred to Elizabeth within the last day or two: but that Charlotte could encourage him seemed almost as far from possibility as that she could encourage him herself; and her astonishment was consequently so great as to overcome at first the bounds of decorum, and she could not help crying out,—\n\n\"Engaged to Mr. Collins! my dear Charlotte, impossible!\"\n\nThe steady countenance which Miss Lucas had commanded in telling her story gave way to a momentary confusion here on receiving so direct a reproach; though, as it was no more than she expected, she soon regained her composure, and calmly replied,—" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Why should you be surprised, my dear Eliza? Do you think it incredible that Mr. Collins should be able to procure any woman's good opinion, because he was not so happy as to succeed with you?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "But Elizabeth had now recollected herself; and, making a strong effort for it, was able to assure her, with tolerable firmness, that the prospect of their relationship was highly grateful to her, and that she wished her all imaginable happiness.\n\n\"I see what you are feeling,\" replied Charlotte: \"you must be surprised, very much surprised, so lately as Mr. Collins was wishing to marry you. But when you have had time to think it all over, I hope you will be satisfied with what I have done. I am not romantic, you know. I never was. I ask only a comfortable home; and, considering Mr. Collins's character, connections, and situation in life, I am convinced that my chance of happiness with him is as fair as most people can boast on entering the marriage state.\"\n\nElizabeth quietly answered \"undoubtedly;\" and, after an awkward pause, they returned to the rest of the family. Charlotte did not stay much longer; and Elizabeth was then left to reflect on what she had heard." } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Mode:\nCo-writing\n\nLength:\nfour sentences\n\nStyle:\nJane Austen" }, { "from": "system", "value": "Produce a starting prompt please." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Mr. Collins's triumph, in consequence of this invitation, was complete. The power of displaying the grandeur of his patroness to his wondering visitors, and of letting them see her civility towards himself and his wife, was exactly what he had wished for; and that an opportunity of doing it should be given so soon was such an instance of Lady Catherine's condescension as he knew not how to admire enough.\n\n\"I confess,\" said he, \"that I should not have been at all surprised by her Ladyship's asking us on Sunday to drink tea and spend the evening at Rosings. I rather expected, from my knowledge of her affability, that it would happen. But who could have foreseen such an attention as this? Who could have imagined that we should receive an invitation to dine there (an invitation, moreover, including the whole party,) so immediately after your arrival? \"—\"I am the less surprised at what has happened,\" replied Sir William, \"from that knowledge of what the manners of the great really are, which my situation in life has allowed me to acquire. About the court, such instances of elegant breeding are not uncommon.\"\n\nScarcely any thing was talked of the whole day or next morning but their visit to Rosings." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Mr. Collins was carefully instructing them in what they were to expect, that the sight of such rooms, so many servants, and so splendid a dinner, might not wholly overpower them." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "When the ladies were separating for the toilette, he said to Elizabeth,—\n\n\"Do not make yourself uneasy, my dear cousin, about your apparel. Lady Catherine is far from requiring that elegance of dress in us which becomes herself and daughter. I would advise you merely to put on whatever of your clothes is superior to the rest, there is no occasion for any thing more. Lady Catherine will not think the worse of you for being simply dressed. She likes to have the distinction of rank preserved.\"\n\nWhile they were dressing, he came two or three times to their different doors, to recommend their being quick, as Lady Catherine very much objected to be kept waiting for her dinner. Such formidable accounts of her Ladyship, and her manner of living, quite frightened Maria Lucas, who had been little used to company; and she looked forward to her introduction at Rosings with as much apprehension as her father had done to his presentation at St. James's." }, { "from": "human", "value": "As the weather was fine, they had a pleasant walk of about half a mile across the park." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Every park has its beauty and its prospects; and Elizabeth saw much to be pleased with, though she could not be in such raptures as Mr. Collins expected the scene to inspire, and was but slightly affected by his enumeration of the windows in front of the house, and his relation of what the glazing altogether had originally cost Sir Lewis de Bough.\n\nWhen they ascended the steps to the hall, Maria's alarm was every moment increasing, and even Sir William did not look perfectly calm. Elizabeth's courage did not fail her. She had heard nothing of Lady Catherine that spoke her awful from any extraordinary talents or miraculous virtue, and the mere stateliness of money and rank she thought she could witness without trepidation." }, { "from": "human", "value": "From the entrance hall, of which Mr. Collins pointed out, with a rapturous air, the fine proportion and finished ornaments, they followed the servants through an ante-chamber to the room where Lady Catherine, her daughter, and Mrs. Jenkinson were sitting." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Her Ladyship, with great condescension, arose to receive them; and as Mrs. Collins had settled it with her husband that the office of introduction should be hers, it was performed in a proper manner, without any of those apologies and thanks which he would have thought necessary.\n\nIn spite of having been at St. James's, Sir William was so completely awed by the grandeur surrounding him, that he had but just courage enough to make a very low bow, and take his seat without saying a word; and his daughter, frightened almost out of her senses, sat on the edge of her chair, not knowing which way to look. Elizabeth found herself quite equal to the scene, and could observe the three ladies before her composedly. Lady Catherine was a tall, large woman, with strongly-marked features, which might once have been handsome." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Her air was not conciliating, nor was her manner of receiving them such as to make her visitors forget their inferior rank." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "She was not rendered formidable by silence: but whatever she said was spoken in so authoritative a tone as marked her self-importance, and brought Mr. Wickham immediately to Elizabeth's mind; and from the observation of the day altogether, she believed Lady Catherine to be exactly what he had represented.\n\nWhen, after examining the mother, in whose countenance and deportment she soon found some resemblance of Mr. Darcy, she turned her eyes on the daughter, she could almost have joined in Maria's astonishment at her being so thin and so small. There was neither in figure nor face any likeness between the ladies. Miss De Bourgh was pale and sickly: her features, though not plain, were insignificant; and she spoke very little, except in a low voice, to Mrs. Jenkinson, in whose appearance there was nothing remarkable, and who was entirely engaged in listening to what she said, and placing a screen in the proper direction before her eyes." }, { "from": "human", "value": "After sitting a few minutes, they were all sent to one of the windows to admire the view, Mr. Collins attending them to point out its beauties, and Lady Catherine kindly informing them that it was much better worth looking at in the summer." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The dinner was exceedingly handsome, and there were all the servants, and all the articles of plate which Mr. Collins had promised; and, as he had likewise foretold, he took his seat at the bottom of the table, by her Ladyship's desire, and looked as if he felt that life could furnish nothing greater. He carved, and ate, and praised with delighted alacrity; and every dish was commended first by him, and then by Sir William, who was now enough recovered to echo whatever his son-in-law said, in a manner which Elizabeth wondered Lady Catherine could bear. But Lady Catherine seemed gratified by their excessive admiration, and gave most gracious smiles, especially when any dish on the table proved a novelty to them. The party did not supply much conversation." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Elizabeth was ready to speak whenever there was an opening, but she was seated between Charlotte and Miss De Bourgh—the former of whom was engaged in listening to Lady Catherine, and the latter said not a word to her all dinnertime." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Mrs. Jenkinson was chiefly employed in watching how little Miss De Bourgh ate, pressing her to try some other dish, and fearing she was indisposed. Maria thought speaking out of the question, and the gentlemen did nothing but eat and admire.\n\nWhen the ladies returned to the drawing room, there was little to be done but to hear Lady Catherine talk, which she did without any intermission till coffee came in, delivering her opinion on every subject in so decisive a manner as proved that she was not used to have her judgment controverted. She enquired into Charlotte's domestic concerns familiarly and minutely, and gave her a great deal of advice as to the management of them all; told her how every thing ought to be regulated in so small a family as hers, and instructed her as to the care of her cows and her poultry." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Elizabeth found that nothing was beneath this great lady's attention, which could furnish her with an occasion of dictating to others." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "In the intervals of her discourse with Mrs. Collins, she addressed a variety of questions to Maria and Elizabeth, but especially to the latter, of whose connections she knew the least, and who, she observed to Mrs. Collins, was a very genteel, pretty kind of girl. She asked her at different times how many sisters she had, whether they were older or younger than herself, whether any of them were likely to be married, whether they were handsome, where they had been educated, what carriage her father kept, and what had been her mother's maiden name? Elizabeth felt all the impertinence of her questions, but answered them very composedly. Lady Catherine then observed, —" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Your father's estate is entailed on Mr. Collins, I think? For your sake,\" turning to Charlotte, \"I am glad of it; but otherwise I see no occasion for entailing estates from the female line. It was not thought necessary in Sir Lewis de Bourgh's family. Do you play and sing, Miss Bennet?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"A little.\"\n\n\"Oh then—some time or other we shall be happy to hear you. Our instrument is a capital one, probably superior to—you shall try it some day. Do your sisters play and sing?\"\n\n\"One of them does.\"\n\n\"Why did not you all learn? You ought all to have learned. The Miss Webbs all play, and their father has not so good an income as yours. Do you draw?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"No, not at all.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"What, none of you?\"\n\n\"Not one.\"\n\n\"That is very strange. But I suppose you had no opportunity. Your mother should have taken you to town every spring for the benefit of masters.\"\n\n\"My mother would have no objection, but my father hates London.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Has your governess left you?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"We never had any governess.\"\n\n\"No governess! How was that possible? Five daughters brought up at home without a governess! I never heard of such a thing. Your mother must have been quite a slave to your education.\"\n\nElizabeth could hardly help smiling as she assured her that had not been the case.\n\n\"Then who taught you? who attended to you? Without a governess, you must have been neglected.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Compared with some families, I believe we were; but such of us as wished to learn never wanted the means. We were always encouraged to read, and had all the masters that were necessary. Those who chose to be idle certainly might.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Aye, no doubt: but that is what a governess will prevent; and if I had known your mother, I should have advised her most strenuously to engage one. I always say that nothing is to be done in education without steady and regular instruction, and nobody but a governess can give it. It is wonderful how many families I have been the means of supplying in that way. I am always glad to get a young person well placed out. Four nieces of Mrs. Jenkinson are most delightfully situated through my means; and it was but the other day that I recommended another young person, who was merely accidentally mentioned to me, and the family are quite delighted with her. Mrs. Collins, did I tell you of Lady Metcalfe's calling yesterday to thank me? She finds Miss Pope a treasure. 'Lady Catherine,' said she, 'you have given me a treasure.' Are any of your younger sisters out, Miss Bennet?\"\n\n\"Yes, ma'am, all.\"\n\n\"All! What, all five out at once? Very odd! And you only the second. The younger ones out before the elder are married! Your younger sisters must be very young?\"\n\n\"Yes, my youngest is not sixteen. Perhaps she is full young to be much in company. But really, ma'am, I think it would be very hard upon younger sisters that they should not have their share of society and amusement, because the elder may not have the means or inclination to marry early. The last born has as good a right to the pleasures of youth as the first. And to be kept back on such a motive! I think it would not be very likely to promote sisterly affection or delicacy of mind.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Upon my word,\" said her Ladyship, \"you give your opinion very decidedly for so young a person. Pray, what is your age?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"With three younger sisters grown up,\" replied Elizabeth, smiling, \"your Ladyship can hardly expect me to own it.\"\n\nLady Catherine seemed quite astonished at not receiving a direct answer; and Elizabeth suspected herself to be the first creature who had ever dared to trifle with so much dignified impertinence.\n\n\"You cannot be more than twenty, I am sure,—therefore you need not conceal your age.\"\n\n\"I am not one-and-twenty.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "When the gentlemen had joined them, and tea was over, the card tables were placed." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Lady Catherine, Sir William, and Mr. and Mrs. Collins sat down to quadrille; and as Miss De Bourgh chose to play at cassino, the two girls had the honour of assisting Mrs. Jenkinson to make up her party. Their table was superlatively stupid. Scarcely a syllable was uttered that did not relate to the game, except when Mrs. Jenkinson expressed her fears of Miss De Bourgh's being too hot or too cold, or having too much or too little light. A great deal more passed at the other table." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Lady Catherine was generally speaking—stating the mistakes of the three others, or relating some anecdote of herself." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Mr. Collins was employed in agreeing to every thing her Ladyship said, thanking her for every fish he won, and apologising if he thought he won too many. Sir William did not say much. He was storing his memory with anecdotes and noble names.\n\nWhen Lady Catherine and her daughter had played as long as they chose, the tables were broken up, the carriage was offered to Mrs. Collins, gratefully accepted, and immediately ordered." } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Write 4 sentences sentences in the style of Jane Austen spawning from what the user wrote." }, { "from": "system", "value": "Produce a starting prompt please." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "More than once did Elizabeth, in her ramble within the park, unexpectedly meet Mr. Darcy. She felt all the perverseness of the mischance that should bring him where no one else was brought; and, to prevent its ever happening again, took care to inform him, at first, that it was a favourite haunt of hers. How it could occur a second time, therefore, was very odd! Yet it did, and even the third." }, { "from": "human", "value": "It seemed like wilful ill-nature, or a voluntary penance; for on these occasions it was not merely a few formal enquiries and an awkward pause and then away, but he actually thought it necessary to turn back and walk with her." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He never said a great deal, nor did she give herself the trouble of talking or of listening much; but it struck her in the course of their third rencountre that he was asking some odd unconnected questions—about her pleasure in being at Hunsford, her love of solitary walks, and her opinion of Mr. and Mrs. Collins's happiness; and that in speaking of Rosings, and her not perfectly understanding the house, he seemed to expect that whenever she came into Kent again she would be staying there too. His words seemed to imply it. Could he have Colonel Fitzwilliam in his thoughts? She supposed, if he meant any thing, he must mean an allusion to what might arise in that quarter." }, { "from": "human", "value": "It distressed her a little, and she was quite glad to find herself at the gate in the pales opposite the Parsonage." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "She was engaged one day, as she walked, in re-perusing Jane's last letter, and dwelling on some passages which proved that Jane had not written in spirits, when, instead of being again surprised by Mr. Darcy, she saw, on looking up, that Colonel Fitzwilliam was meeting her. Putting away the letter immediately, and forcing a smile, she said,—\n\n\"I did not know before that you ever walked this way.\"\n\n\"I have been making the tour of the park,\" he replied, \"as I generally do every year, and intended to close it with a call at the Parsonage. Are you going much farther?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"No, I should have turned in a moment.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "And accordingly she did turn, and they walked towards the Parsonage together.\n\n\"Do you certainly leave Kent on Saturday?\" said she.\n\n\"Yes—if Darcy does not put it off again. But I am at his disposal. He arranges the business just as he pleases.\"\n\n\"And if not able to please himself in the arrangement, he has at least great pleasure in the power of choice. I do not know any body who seems more to enjoy the power of doing what he likes than Mr. Darcy.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"He likes to have his own way very well,\" replied Colonel Fitzwilliam." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"But so we all do. It is only that he has better means of having it than many others, because he is rich, and many others are poor. I speak feelingly. A younger son, you know, must be inured to self-denial and dependence.\"\n\n\"In my opinion, the younger son of an earl can know very little of either. Now, seriously, what have you ever known of self-denial and dependence? When have you been prevented by want of money from going wherever you chose, or procuring any thing you had a fancy for?\"\n\n\"These are home questions—and perhaps I cannot say that I have experienced many hardships of that nature. But in matters of greater weight, I may suffer from the want of money. Younger sons cannot marry where they like.\"\n\n\"Unless where they like women of fortune, which I think they very often do.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Our habits of expense make us too dependent, and there are not many in my rank of life who can afford to marry without some attention to money.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Is this,\" thought Elizabeth, \"meant for me?\" and she coloured at the idea; but, recovering herself, said in a lively tone, \"And pray, what is the usual price of an earl's younger son? Unless the elder brother is very sickly, I suppose you would not ask above fifty thousand pounds.\"\n\nHe answered her in the same style, and the subject dropped. To interrupt a silence which might make him fancy her affected with what had passed, she soon afterwards said,—" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"I imagine your cousin brought you down with him chiefly for the sake of having somebody at his disposal. I wonder he does not marry, to secure a lasting convenience of that kind. But, perhaps, his sister does as well for the present; and, as she is under his sole care, he may do what he likes with her.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"No,\" said Colonel Fitzwilliam, \"that is an advantage which he must divide with me. I am joined with him in the guardianship of Miss Darcy.\"\n\n\"Are you, indeed? And pray what sort of a guardian do you make? Does your charge give you much trouble? Young ladies of her age are sometimes a little difficult to manage; and if she has the true Darcy spirit, she may like to have her own way.\"\n\nAs she spoke, she observed him looking at her earnestly; and the manner in which he immediately asked her why she supposed Miss Darcy likely to give them any uneasiness, convinced her that she had somehow or other got pretty near the truth. She directly replied,—\n\n\"You need not be frightened. I never heard any harm of her; and I dare say she is one of the most tractable creatures in the world. She is a very great favourite with some ladies of my acquaintance, Mrs. Hurst and Miss Bingley. I think I have heard you say that you know them.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"I know them a little. Their brother is a pleasant, gentlemanlike man—he is a great friend of Darcy's.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Oh yes,\" said Elizabeth, drily—\"Mr. Darcy is uncommonly kind to Mr. Bingley, and takes a prodigious deal of care of him.\"\n\n\"Care of him! Yes, I really believe Darcy does take care of him in those points where he most wants care. From something that he told me in our journey hither, I have reason to think Bingley very much indebted to him. But I ought to beg his pardon, for I have no right to suppose that Bingley was the person meant. It was all conjecture.\"\n\n\"What is it you mean?\"\n\n\"It is a circumstance which Darcy of course could not wish to be generally known, because if it were to get round to the lady's family, it would be an unpleasant thing.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"You may depend upon my not mentioning it.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"And remember that I have not much reason for supposing it to be Bingley. What he told me was merely this: that he congratulated himself on having lately saved a friend from the inconveniences of a most imprudent marriage, but without mentioning names or any other particulars; and I only suspected it to be Bingley from believing him the kind of young man to get into a scrape of that sort, and from knowing them to have been together the whole of last summer.\"\n\n\"Did Mr. Darcy give you his reasons for this interference?\"\n\n\"I understood that there were some very strong objections against the lady.\"\n\n\"And what arts did he use to separate them?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"He did not talk to me of his own arts,\" said Fitzwilliam, smiling." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"He only told me what I have now told you.\"\n\nElizabeth made no answer, and walked on, her heart swelling with indignation. After watching her a little, Fitzwilliam asked her why she was so thoughtful.\n\n\"I am thinking of what you have been telling me,\" said she." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Your cousin's conduct does not suit my feelings. Why was he to be the judge?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"You are rather disposed to call his interference officious?\"\n\n\"I do not see what right Mr. Darcy had to decide on the propriety of his friend's inclination; or why, upon his own judgment alone, he was to determine and direct in what manner that friend was to be happy. But,\" she continued, recollecting herself, \"as we know none of the particulars, it is not fair to condemn him. It is not to be supposed that there was much affection in the case.\"\n\n\"That is not an unnatural surmise,\" said Fitzwilliam; \"but it is lessening the honour of my cousin's triumph very sadly.\"\n\nThis was spoken jestingly, but it appeared to her so just a picture of Mr. Darcy, that she would not trust herself with an answer; and, therefore, abruptly changing the conversation, talked on indifferent matters till they reached the Parsonage." }, { "from": "human", "value": "There, shut into her own room, as soon as their visitor left them, she could think without interruption of all that she had heard." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "It was not to be supposed that any other people could be meant than those with whom she was connected. There could not exist in the world two men over whom Mr. Darcy could have such boundless influence. That he had been concerned in the measures taken to separate Mr. Bingley and Jane, she had never doubted; but she had always attributed to Miss Bingley the principal design and arrangement of them. If his own vanity, however, did not mislead him, he was the cause, his pride and caprice were the cause, of all that Jane had suffered, and still continued to suffer." }, { "from": "human", "value": "He had ruined for a while every hope of happiness for the most affectionate, generous heart in the world; and no one could say how lasting an evil he might have inflicted." }, { "from": "system", "value": "Next message should be approximately 5 sentences." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"There were some very strong objections against the lady,\" were Colonel Fitzwilliam's words; and these strong objections probably were, her having one uncle who was a country attorney, and another who was in business in London.\n\n\"To Jane herself,\" she exclaimed, \"there could be no possibility of objection,—all loveliness and goodness as she is! Her understanding excellent, her mind improved, and her manners captivating. Neither could any thing be urged against my father, who, though with some peculiarities, has abilities which Mr. Darcy himself need not disdain, and respectability which he will probably never reach.\" When she thought of her mother, indeed, her confidence gave way a little; but she would not allow that any objections there had material weight with Mr. Darcy, whose pride, she was convinced, would receive a deeper wound from the want of importance in his friend's connections than from their want of sense; and she was quite decided, at last, that he had been partly governed by this worst kind of pride, and partly by the wish of retaining Mr. Bingley for his sister.\n\nThe agitation and tears which the subject occasioned brought on a headache; and it grew so much worse towards the evening that, added to her unwillingness to see Mr. Darcy, it determined her not to attend her cousins to Rosings, where they were engaged to drink tea. Mrs. Collins, seeing that she was really unwell, did not press her to go, and as much as possible prevented her husband from pressing her; but Mr. Collins could not conceal his apprehension of Lady Catherine's being rather displeased by her staying at home." } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Task: Cooperative storytelling\nMy role: Provide a brief opening\nYour role: Expand upon my opening with 4 sentences, emulating the writing style of Amy Harmon." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Kjell was not the only Healer in Jeru." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Healers who had kept the secret of their abilities for longer than he, who could wield and heal with little thought, lived among the people of Jeru. Spinners, Changers, and Tellers too. They had congregated in Nivea, near the ancient seabed, among artisans and craftsmen, just beyond the Jeru City walls. When Tiras passed the edict protecting all people, even the Gifted, they had not seen fit to venture out." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Change was difficult, even for those who could change at will." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Instead, Jeru came to them.\n\nAt Lark's urging, Kjell brought Sasha to Nivea to see if the old Teller and diviner of Gifts, Gwyn, could unravel the mystery of Sasha's past. Like before, his presence was noted immediately and looked on with some trepidation. His past had not been forgotten in Nivea, and his gift did not greatly impress." }, { "from": "human", "value": "He found Gwyn in the garden of the small home of Shenna the Healer, sitting with her face tipped to the sun, drinking in the rays as if they sang to her." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "And maybe they did.\n\n\"The Healer returns,\" she greeted, not opening her eyes. \"I knew you would.\"\n\n\"You're a Seer. I'm not especially impressed. And Shenna told you I was coming.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Still so prickly. In a world of Changers, it is good that some things stay the same.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Kjell sat across from the woman, knowing what she expected. The stool had been placed there for him, he had no doubt.\n\n\"She is lovely, the woman you brought home from Quondoon. Where is she?\"\n\n\"The gods save me from Seers,\" he sighed, only half-serious." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"She is with Shenna, in the cottage. I wanted a moment with you alone,\" Kjell retorted." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"And why is that, Healer?\"\n\n\"Don't you know?\" Kjell replied dourly.\n\n\"I am not all-knowing, Captain. My eyes see what they will, and I've never been able to choose.\"\n\n\"That's what Sasha says.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"She is a Seer,\" Gwyn said." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"And she was punished for it.\"\n\n\"Yes, and I healed her. She was near death. It was the first healing I have performed on a stranger.\"\n\n\"The most difficult healing of all, sharing your gift with someone you've never met,\" Gwyn remarked.\n\n\"I almost doubted it could be done.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "He was comforted by the knowledge that she understood." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Even the queen—as powerful as she is, as magnificent as her ability—is bound by certain constraints. Imagine how terrible the world would be if men were all-powerful,\" Gwyn murmured. Neither of them spoke of the king who had been very powerful indeed.\n\n\"I tried to heal her twice. The first time, she was near death. The second, seriously wounded. The second time, I almost failed. It took hours and every ounce of strength I had to close her wounds.\"\n\n\"You were successful?\" She sounded shocked." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Yes . . . but she still bears the scars.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"You are a powerful Healer, indeed,\" she marveled.\n\n\"I will not be able to heal her again,\" he mourned. \"I can feel it.\"\n\n\"No. Probably not. Every gift has its limitations. We are delicate creatures, aren't we? But our fragility makes us better people. It is good that the gift we want most is the one we aren't given.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "She paused. \"A Healer cannot heal himself.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He nodded. \"Yes. I know.\"\n\n\"When you heal, you give your very self away,\" she explained.\n\n\"Shenna told me for every life I restore, I lose a day of my own,\" he said.\n\n\"But Healers live longer than most,\" she reassured." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Still . . . I'm not talking about shortening years upon the land, Healer. When you heal, especially great wounds, your life force merges with the life you save. And that person becomes part of you. A Healer cannot heal himself,\" she repeated slowly." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Thus he cannot heal twice. Or very rarely.\"\n\nShe smiled, her face wrinkling into a thousand lines, and Kjell resisted the urge to smooth them, simply to see if he could.\n\nShe brought his hand to her face, as if she knew he wanted to touch her and was too reticent to do so. Her skin was warm from the sun, and he held his palm there, pressed against her cheek, soothed by her presence." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"In Solemn, I healed two hundred people, most of them very ill.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"A wonderful gift. And depending on the severity of the illness and the depth of the healing, you will not be able to give it to them again.\"\n\n\"What use am I to those I love if I can't heal them whenever they need it?\" he whispered.\n\n\"The people who love you do not love you for your power, Kjell. That is their gift to you.\" Gwyn patted his hand and brought it to her lap, palm up, looking at the lines there." }, { "from": "human", "value": "They sat in contemplative silence for several moments." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"But that is not the only reason you've come, is it?\" she needled.\n\n\"No.\" Kjell guessed she already knew exactly why he was there.\n\n\"Then bring her to me, lad.\" Gwyn grinned, swatting at his hand, a twinkle in her eye." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Kjell turned to fetch the women, but saw they were already approaching." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Gwyn tipped her head toward them, as though her ears worked better than her eyes.\n\nSasha greeted the old Teller as she had greeted the queen, with a deep curtsy and a bowed head.\n\n\"Come, girl. I'm just an old woman. No need for that,\" Gwyn protested, but Kjell could see that the greeting pleased her. \"Sit beside me.\"\n\nSasha obeyed immediately, tucking herself beside the Teller, who took her hand the way she'd taken Kjell's." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"You've already seen Bartol—what can I possibly tell you that you don't know?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Gwyn's voice was wry.\n\nBartol was an entertainer, one of the Gifted who'd been a court jester before the laws had made having a gift a boon instead of a curse.\n\nBartol made Tiras laugh with his antics, but Kjell had mocked the man more than once for his inane talents. In his opinion, Bartol's gift was a useless one—a weak variation of seeing that served no purpose." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Bartol took great pride in telling people what they already knew, things like, \"You ate lamb last Tuesday. You fear heights because you fell from a tree when you were a child. Your best mate is Garvin. Your mother was Janetta. The day of your birth there was a terrible blizzard. You've a mark on your arse shaped like a ship.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "All of it ridiculous, all of it unhelpful.\n\nThe man had been taken a bit more seriously since the king's edict, and Lark had asked him what he could tell them about Sasha. Bartol had immediately proclaimed Sasha the daughter of Pierce and Sareca of Kilmorda, and the queen said he spoke truth. But Bartol had known nothing beyond Sasha's parentage, and had proceeded to rattle off a string of things Sasha could have told them herself, as well as a few things—like the color of the king's drawers and that Princess Wren had cut a new tooth—that no one cared to know." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Bartol had made Tiras laugh, and the queen had declared it a miracle, but Sasha had still insisted on dusting books and scrubbing floors." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "She might be the daughter of a lord, but there was nothing and no one to return to in Kilmorda. And Sasha still couldn't remember them.\n\n\"We thought you might be able to see who Sasha is,\" Kjell said.\n\n\"Who she is?\" Gwyn asked frowning." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"She already knows. Better than most, I would say. Who do you think you are, girl?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"I am his,\" Sasha said without hesitation, her gaze level and unflinching.\n\nGwyn crowed softly, as if the answer pleased her even more than the greeting, and Kjell felt his belly and his face get hot.\n\n\"No, child. He is yours,\" Gwyn said, and Kjell grimaced. Gwyn ignored him, her gaze still on Sasha." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"You have come a long way,\" she mused." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Yes,\" Sasha answered.\n\n\"And there is a journey yet to come. Do you see it?\" Gwyn pressed.\n\n\"To my home?\" Sasha asked as if she already knew.\n\n\"To your home,\" Gwyn confirmed." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Kjell wanted to interrupt, to protest." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "This was not what they'd come for. Kilmorda was in ruins. There would be no journey to the province if he could help it. But he held his tongue." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"You have the eyes of a Seer, Sasha,\" Shenna said softly, inserting herself into the conversation." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Yes. I'm not a terribly good one. It is a frustrating gift. It is a talent that rarely heals and usually frightens. It frightens me.\"\n\n\"It frightens me too,\" Gwyn said. \"Our gifts are often burdens, aren't they?\"\n\nSasha wilted, her eyes on her feet, and Gwyn was silent for a long time." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"You are a Seer, but that is not your dominant gift,\" Gwyn said thoughtfully." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Sasha looked surprised, even hopeful, and she waited expectantly, lifting her eyes back to the old woman.\n\n\"You magnify the gifts of others. You make them stronger. You have strengthened our Kjell many times,\" Gwyn said.\n\n\"I don't know if that is a gift, Mother Gwyn,\" Sasha said slowly. \"Or if that is simply . . . love.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Kjell froze." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"But that is the best gift of all,\" Gwyn said.\n\nKjell wanted to bolt, overwhelmed with the need to be alone and to never be alone again. He stood abruptly, and Sasha stood as well, ever his faithful shadow, gently releasing the old woman's hand.\n\n\"We've made the Healer uncomfortable.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Gwyn sighed, irritated. \"Go on ahead, Captain. I want to say goodbye to this girl.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He needed no urging and turned and strode from the garden.\n\n\"Captain?\" he heard Shenna call behind him. He counted the Healer as one of his friends, though she might not know it. She'd taught him a great deal about his gift." }, { "from": "human", "value": "He trusted her, and he thought she'd come to trust him." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Or at least respect him. He paused and waited for her to catch up to him, but he kept his back to her. She was too intuitive, and he was too disturbed.\n\n\"I offered to heal her scars. The ones on her back. She wouldn't let me,\" Shenna said, her voice troubled." }, { "from": "human", "value": "That sounded like Sasha." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Still, he didn't turn around. He needed a moment, and it didn't seem like he was going to get one.\n\n\"How did you know about her scars?\" he asked.\n\n\"They are still tender. I sensed them.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "He flinched." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"She said they are a reminder,\" Shenna continued.\n\n\"Of what?\" His tone was plaintive.\n\n\"That she may not be able to heal, but she can save.\"\n\n\"Bloody hell,\" he cursed." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"It does no good to fight what she sees. Or to fight her,\" she added softly." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Mother Gwyn is the same way. It's like throwing yourself against the rocks.\"\n\nHe nodded, suddenly resigned, and stepped out of the garden gate, waiting for Sasha.\n\nIf there was to be a journey to Kilmorda, he would need to talk to his brother.\n\nHe was reminded of the days when Tiras locked himself away in dungeon rooms or sequestered himself to his chambers." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Kjell had become his eyes and ears and feet and hands, keeping the kingdom afloat while continually covering for his brother, who was losing himself a little more each day." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He'd dragged Lark through the halls at all hours of the night to help him, desperate for assistance, yet distrustful and derisive, convinced she was his brother's worst mistake.\n\nAnd she had saved them all.\n\nNow he found himself walking through the halls of the castle again, seeking Sasha, wanting redemption yet unable to trust himself. He'd loved a woman once." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Or thought he did." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "A woman who understood him well enough to play him like a harp. A woman who had brought Jeru to its knees. He'd been wrong before. He'd been foolish and afraid." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Fear makes hate, and he'd hated all the wrong people." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He would not be used again.\n\nShe met him at the door of her chamber, flinging it wide as if she'd watched him approach. Her color was high, her eyes bright, her lips parted like she was struggling for breath.\n\n\"You saw me coming?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "he murmured, stopping in the entry, wanting her desperately while wishing he'd never come." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"I don't see everything,\" she began, and he said the words with her, matching her tone and pitch even as he added, \"Yes. I know.\"\n\n\"You're creating ripples with your stony heart,\" she said softly, and he wanted to smile at her word play, at the memory of her explanation of the ripples in the pond and how they often managed to reach her on the shore eventually.\n\nShe turned and walked into her room, and he followed, shutting the chamber door behind them. She perched on the edge of her bed, her hair pooling around her, reminding him of the day she stood in the rain, battered and bedraggled, clinging to her clothes while he clung to his resistance." }, { "from": "human", "value": "He loved her then." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He loved her now.\n\nHe'd loved her from the moment she'd opened her eyes beneath a moonlit sky in Quondoon and greeted him like she'd been waiting forever. And he needed to tell her.\n\nHe sank to his knees before her, abandoning his resistance completely, and she drew him to her, cradling his head in her lap, and stroking his hair." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Did you see . . . us?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "he whispered, needing reassurance.\n\n\"When I see you, I rarely see myself,\" she whispered. \"But I hoped.\"\n\nStill kneeling in front of her, he wrapped his arms around her hips and drew her from the bed and into him, connecting them from their knees to their noses, his arms supporting her weight. For a moment she hovered slightly above him, her hands braced on his shoulders, eyes searching, wanting but waiting, until the exquisite became the excruciating, and he wound one hand in her hair, lifted his chin, and pulled her to him, mouth to mouth." }, { "from": "human", "value": "He kissed her, taking her to the floor because he was too overcome to stand, clinging to her body because he was too undone to go slow." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The storm pounding in his limbs and in his belly began to build in his heart, seeping through his skin and gathering in the corners of his eyes. He wanted to weep. It was the strangest sensation, the most puzzling reaction he'd ever experienced. He wanted to lay his head on Sasha's chest and weep." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Instead he breathed against her lips, withdrawing enough to move his mouth along the delicate bones of her collar, over the swell of her breasts, before he paused, his eyes closed, his forehead pressed to her abdomen." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He was happy. The feeling surged through him, an echo of the swelling he'd felt when Sasha had told him his kisses made her joyful. He was . . . happy." }, { "from": "human", "value": "And he wasn't killing anything." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "There wasn't a sword in sight or a birdman in the sky. He was lying on a stone floor with Sasha in his arms, her hair twined around them, her hands on his face, her heart pounding beneath his cheek, and he was perfectly and completely happy.\n\n\"There once was a man named Kjell of Jeru who could pull trees from the ground with his bare hands,\" he began, not even knowing exactly what he was going to say.\n\n\"So he was a very strong man?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Sasha asked, not missing a beat." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Yes. The strongest.\"\n\nShe laughed softly, the tremor making her body move against his.\n\n\"He could wrestle lions and toss bears and once killed ten birdmen with his bare hands. But the man was lonely. And his heart was dark.\"\n\n\"Not so dark,\" she murmured." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Shh. It is my story.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "She pinched him and he rose up to kiss her again, punishing her mouth with his lips and his tongue, unable to help himself.\n\nAfter a breathless moment he withdrew, panting, his eyes still on her mouth, even as he tried to refocus his thoughts. Sasha's eyes pleaded and her lips begged, and he knew if he didn't continue with his story now, there would be no more conversation.\n\n\"One day he found a beautiful girl with hair like the sunrise and skin dappled with light,\" he continued softly." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Sasha grew still and her hands ceased caressing his back." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"The girl was kind to Kjell of Jeru, even though he was cold. She was patient with him, even though he was angry. She was soft, even though he was hard.\"\n\nKjell made himself look at her, made himself meet her gaze. She was listening intently, her eyes so wet and deep he wanted to sink into them. Then he couldn't look away." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"She followed him around and held his hand in the dark. She helped him find his way home and tried to slay birdmen for him. She wasn't very good at it. But she tried.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Ah. A smile. Good. His chest expanded again, nearly exploding, and he couldn't breathe.\n\n\"The mighty warrior, mightiest in all the land—\" He paused, unable to tell her he loved her. The words were too flimsy and too formal, too misused and too overused." }, { "from": "human", "value": "So he gave her another truth." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"The mighty warrior was . . . happy. And he wasn't lonely anymore.\"\n\nMoisture trickled from the corners of her eyes and hid in her hair, and he rushed to finish, unable to bear her tears, even if they were happy ones.\n\n\"Sasha of Kilmorda, of Solemn, of Enoch, of the plains of Janda, of every place in between, will you be Sasha of Jeru?\"\n\n\"Sasha of Kjell?\" she asked." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Sasha of Kjell,\" he answered." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"I am yours, remember?\" she reminded him, as if she'd already said yes a thousand times.\n\n\"And I am yours,\" he whispered. She beamed through her tears, making his chest burn all over again." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"The bans will be read. Tiras has given his blessing. And if you must go to Kilmorda, I will go with you.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Soon?\" she asked, her lips still wet from his kisses.\n\n\"Very soon,\" he agreed.\n\nShe surged up, and her lips found his again, frantic and clinging, and he answered with a desperation of his own. But he would not love her on the floor." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Not the first time." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He would be a good man. A wise man. A gentleman. For the first time in his life, he would be a gentle man. He would ask her to take him, but not before he gave himself away." }, { "from": "human", "value": "He pushed back to his haunches and rose to his feet, lifting her in his arms." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "When he laid her across the bed, she watched his hands loosen the ties of her gown, watched him remove her clothes, and when he was through, she watched him touch her. She didn't close her eyes or drift away in sightless pleasure. She didn't turn her head into the pillow or gaze blindly into the flickering light. With her eyes she followed his fingers and trailed his palms, observing the path he took and the reverence he administered." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Her thumbs caressed the corners of his mouth, feeling his kisses with her fingers as he pressed them onto her lips and into her skin." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "She didn't look away when he shed his own clothes and wrapped her body around him. She didn't shy from his ministrations or tremble from his weight, but pulled him close, eyes wide, lips parted, breathing him in as he sank inside her.\n\nThere were no secrets, no sorrows, nothing hidden, nothing lost. They saw not what would be or what had been, but only what was." }, { "from": "human", "value": "She saw him." }, { "from": "system", "value": "Your next one should be approximately two sentences." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He saw her.\n\nAnd they saw nothing else." } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Expand the story by adding four sentences." }, { "from": "system", "value": "Produce a starting prompt please." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The tables were laden with everything a man could grow, in a variety only a child could dream up. The meat was still scarce—a few wild turkeys, two geese, and one of the chickens brought from the Bay of Dendar—but two more deer had been felled since Kjell had slain the doe, and what was lacking in meat was more than made up for in everything else. Grain had been harvested and ground to flour to make breads of every kind. Bread stuffed with berries and wrapped around apples or studded with raisins and sprinkled with herbs, made the air smell of yeast and spice." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Stringed instruments and mellow drums made from the branches and trunks of fallen trees made warm music." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "No trees were cut down in Caarn. The tree had to die naturally before the wood was gathered. The people believed the trees gave freely of their branches and their leaves, their nuts and their needles in exchange for long life. Acorns were roasted, pine nuts were collected, sap siphoned, but only as much as the tree wanted to give." }, { "from": "human", "value": "The trees had little use for any of the things they freely gave, and Kjell pondered whether the trees of Caarn had bleated like engorged milk cows, begging for relief, during the four long years no one had tended to them." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Since the Spinners had been roused and the village enlivened, the forest floor had been harvested almost as thoroughly as the fields.\n\nThe celebration spilled out from the castle to the courtyard to accommodate the numbers, and the watch on the city walls was frequently changed, allowing Kjell's men and the new sentry to participate in the day-long festivities. The queen's guards were instructed carefully, but Kjell spent the hours of dancing, feasting, and celebration watching the corners and the lovely queen, fingering the blade beneath his sleeve and the sword swinging in its sheath.\n\nSasha wore the deep green of Jeru trimmed in the gold that suited her so well." }, { "from": "human", "value": "The sleeves of her gown were wide, the edges trailing as long as her skirts, the bodice slim and the neck low, revealing the tops of her freckled breasts and the length of her slim throat." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "She wore her hair confined in dozens of braids coiled in dozens more, her golden crown resting in the wreath of her woven tresses.\n\nJust before sundown the king instructed the trumpets to sound and the drums to rumble, announcing the court of honor to be conducted in the main courtyard, where the guard could stand at attention and the villagers could fill the lower bailey. Kjell played his part, bowing his head and dropping to one knee, allowing King Aren to pronounce him a defender of the realm. He kept his eyes on the king's boots as Aren laid his staff against Kjell's shoulders, one at a time, knighting him." }, { "from": "human", "value": "The people rubbed their hands together in appreciation, creating a sound that mimicked the whisper of the leaves in the forests that surrounded them, crying his name and declaring him an honorary son of Caarn." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Kjell didn't know the custom but remained kneeling, his eyes level, trusting that he would be instructed to rise when the court of honor was complete. The king turned to his queen and extended his hand to bring her forward beside him.\n\nSasha curtsied deeply before Kjell, but when she placed the palm of her hand demurely on his bowed head, Kjell didn't look up. He was afraid his eyes would give him away, dishonor the queen, and insult a king who had done nothing to deserve the offense." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Her voice was strong when she began to speak, but he felt the tremor in her hand where it lay against his hair." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He knew the words she spoke were part of the ritual, but they seared his soul, echoing love denied and oaths unraveled.\n\n\"You belong to us and we belong to you. Our roots will anchor you, our leaves cover you. From this day forward, there is a branch on the tree of Caarn that bears your name.\"\n\n\"Rise, Healer,\" the king said, projecting his voice. The queen's hand fell away and the people made their palms whisper once more." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Let the feast begin!\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The king bellowed, and the people cheered.\n\nKjell rose, keeping his eyes slightly averted, looking beyond the king and his queen, and he saw a flash of movement that chilled his blood. Perhaps it was the slope of her neck, her heavy black tresses, or the way she turned her head. But the glimpse was instantly gone, like his mind was playing tricks on him." }, { "from": "human", "value": "He stared at the press of onlookers, at the dancing shadows created by the sinking sun and the newly-lit torches that encircled the courtyard." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "It was not yet dark, and the gloaming was pink and soft and mild, no brilliant colors and violent shades. Caarn was grey and green and deep brown—colors that spoke of earth and sky and things that grow. He separated himself from the celebration, slipping in and out of the spinning villagers and the dancing feet, searching.\n\nPale candlenuts as big as a child's palm would burn for hours, and everywhere Kjell looked, pyramids of the flammable seed on rock pedestals were being lit, permeating the castle and the grounds with their amber light and fragrant oil." }, { "from": "human", "value": "When Isak found him, his eyes wide and his cheeks flushed, Kjell knew he hadn't been imagining things." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Captain, I saw her. The woman from the Jandarian plain. She is here,\" Isak gasped.\n\n\"Tell me.\"\n\n\"She was not a snake this time . . . not in animal form. She was on the edge of the crowd, dancing and drinking. She was clothed in silks and her hair was . . .\" Isak tried to indicate with his hands, doing a poor job of description, and gave up." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"It wasn't wild or snarled. It was coiled like a crown. She is beautiful . . .\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "he gulped. \"I was near the queen, and didn't dare leave my post to follow the woman. She looked right at me, and she smiled.\"\n\nKjell cursed the press of people and the inability of his men to communicate effectively.\n\n\"You did well. You don't ever leave the queen to pursue the enemy.\"\n\nIsak nodded but continued with his report." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"The feast has begun. Jerick is guarding the queen. There are sentries at every door of the Great Hall and lining the walls. The king is asking for you, Captain. You are the guest of honor.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"I'll be there shortly. Spread the message. Tell the men the Changer is here.\"\n\n\"She can do little harm in human form, right Captain?\" Isak asked, anxious.\n\n\"One would think,\" Kjell said. \"But her confidence is concerning.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Where did she come from? Where did she get the clothes . . . and the jewels?\" Isak asked." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"I think I know,\" Kjell replied grimly. \"Go Isak. Do as I said.\"\n\nKjell climbed the stairs with more haste than was seemly. He didn't want to draw attention, but he had no time for decorum." }, { "from": "human", "value": "He strode down the long corridors to the wing of the castle where the royal chambers were located, the king's quarters on the left, the queen's on the right." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Kjell hadn't slept outside Sasha's door, but he knew every inch of her room, every item within it, and every habit and practice of the queen. Sasha was tidy, prone to simplicity, and seldom took great pains or much time with her appearance. From the current state of the chamber, one would think someone else resided there.\n\nThe Changer had flown in." }, { "from": "human", "value": "A small window, high on the wall, had been cracked to air the space, and a black feather, sooty and short, lay near an open chest of jewels." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Kjell could picture Ariel of Firi perched there in the form of a crow, peering at all the shiny things before changing into a woman and helping herself to a few.\n\nSasha's tub had not been emptied after she'd bathed. A dirty footprint was outlined against the pale stone floor beside the huge iron basin. Lady Firi had washed herself in the queen's bathwater and upended the salts and oils when she was done, creating a perfumed cloud that made Kjell wheeze and retreat quickly." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Sasha's gowns were pulled from their hooks and scattered about the floor as well." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "A few of them were shredded and soiled, as if Firi had shifted into a beast and torn them apart for sport. Sasha was taller and slimmer than Ariel of Firi. The dresses would not have been a good fit. But clearly Lady Firi had found one and poured herself into it, dressing herself, fixing her hair, and donning her pilfered jewels." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Then she'd walked from the chamber and down into the courtyard, joining the celebration of the people of Caarn who, for weeks, had been welcoming strangers into their midst." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "No one had stopped her. No one had sounded an alarm until she had safely slipped away.\n\nThe feasting had gone on much of the day, but in the banquet room long tables were arranged in a large rectangle for honored guests. The members of his council and their wives, as well as Padrig, Captain Lortimer, and a handful of respected villagers had all received invitations to dine with the king and queen." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Kjell was seated as a guest of honor beside the king, eating food he couldn't taste, tasting food he didn't eat." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "His men stood on high alert, necks craned and eyes peeled, but the night was one of the longest he'd ever spent. As the hours passed, the wine continued to flow, the villagers grew more and more merry, and King Aren regaled his audience with tales of Caarn from decades past, while Sasha, a storyteller who surpassed them all, sat stiff-backed and quiet beside him.\n\nWhen she suddenly stood, her eyes black and her hands gripping her skirts, the king's voice trailed off and his eyes rose to her face.\n\n\"Saoirse?\" the king asked, reaching a hand to steady her." }, { "from": "human", "value": "She stared down at him blindly, her crown tipping over one ear, but she didn't right it or answer him." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Kjell rose from his place beside the king and stepped toward her, unable to look away.\n\n\"They are drawn by our heartbeats. By the blood in our veins,\" she murmured.\n\n\"Who, Majesty?\" Padrig asked from his seat on her left side.\n\n\"There were no bones,\" she continued, her voice hollow." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Not here, Saoirse,\" the king warned, noting the attention she had begun to draw." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"We will speak of this privately.\"\n\n\"No Volgar bones. Not in Caarn,\" Sasha said slowly, still lost in her vision.\n\nThe people within hearing distance exclaimed in fear, and the word trickled down the tables.\n\n\"The queen has seen the Volgar!\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"She is a Seer. The queen is a Seer and she says the Volgar will return.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"We will have to hide again!\"\n\n\"We will have to leave Caarn.\"\n\nThe panic became a thrumming murmur as one person spoke to another, seeking comfort in conference, until the king stood, and with a booming voice, demanded quiet.\n\n\"The queen is weary. We are all weary, and sadly, we are still afraid. What the queen was speaking of is not a vision but a terrible memory. Sit. Eat. Be merry. We have much to celebrate. No one is in danger this eve.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "The people nodded, some laughing at their own fear." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Others looked unconvinced. Kjell didn't return to his seat but stood with his back to the wall, directly behind the queen's chair, standing guard. Sasha said no more, but bowed her head, lost in her own thoughts, and the temporary uproar was tamped down and smoothed more. But the mood had changed and soon the guests began to depart, blaming the late hour and the long day, their aching heads and their weary wives.\n\nThe king had lost his good humor as well, and sat woodenly beside the frozen queen, bidding adieu to bowing guests with a flutter of his hand and a tip of his head, until no one remained in the hall with him but the queen, Padrig, Kjell and the members of the guard still stationed at the doors." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"What did you see, Majesty?\" Kjell asked quietly." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The king tossed his crown onto the table in front of him. It clattered heavily and Sasha flinched, but she answered Kjell.\n\n\"Wings. Talons. The eastern hills. Pounding hearts,\" she listed. Her voice was flat, cold even, but her eyes swam with distress." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"And what do you think it means?\" Kjell pressed." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"The Volgar will be drawn back to Caarn. We are food. They smell our blood.\"\n\n\"There could be another explanation for your vision!\" Padrig wailed. \"We don't have to assume the worst.\"\n\n\"Padrig,\" the king warned wearily." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Don't be a fool. It is one thing to be optimistic. It is another to be blind.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"I can't leave Caarn again. I won't,\" Padrig said, shaking his head.\n\n\"And we cannot hide,\" the king agreed. \"If I spin again, I won't be able to come back.\"\n\n\"Spinning is not meant to be permanent. It is one thing to change straw to gold. To change air to fire, to pull food from the soil. These things are not living. But when a man becomes something he is not, for any length of time, whether he be a beast or a tree, it dulls his spirit and represses his very self. We must use our gifts . . . but we can't hide behind them,\" Sasha said." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"So we will use what we have,\" Kjell said with finality." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"We cannot fight birdmen with leaves and roots, Healer!\" Padrig cried.\n\n\"Maybe . . . we can,\" Kjell said. \"If you can pull plants from the ground with the palm of your hands, King Aren, you can cause vines to grow. We will set snares. We will make traps.\"\n\nAren shook his head like he couldn't believe it was all happening again." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"We will fight back,\" Sasha urged." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Her jaw was set and her color was high. She'd wanted to fight back once, and she'd been sent away.\n\nPadrig moaned, but he didn't protest.\n\n\"When are they coming?\" Kjell asked." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"When the leaves are vibrant on the hills,\" Sasha whispered." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The king and Padrig gasped, and Kjell's heart sank.\n\nSummer was already waning. The leaves on the trees above Caarn were still green, but the light was shifting, the air smelled different, and the days weren't quite as long.\n\nIt seemed the village had been brought to life only to die a quick death." }, { "from": "human", "value": "The following morning, the gifted man with the bellowing voice stood on the highest tower in the castle keep, and with his head tipped toward the sky to avoid blasting the people below, he called the villagers to the castle keep." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The people of Caarn trudged into the courtyard, bleary-eyed and yawning, drowsy from too much drink and drained from too much dancing. The celebration had barely ended, and the king was summoning them back.\n\nIn grave tones and sober words, King Aren told his people to prepare. There was shock and denial, anger and fear." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Some asked why and how, others raged that fate was cruel." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Many demanded answers and all demanded hope.\n\nBut no one wanted to hide.\n\nThe men were adamant. The women refused. The children trembled at the mere suggestion." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Kjell began the work of drafting a battle plan based solely on Sasha's premonitions, calling on his guard and the Gifted to assist." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The Spinners worked long hours, harvesting and storing, creating stock-piles for the cold months ahead, praying that Caarn would live to see them. The king spent his days among the growers, convinced that his gifts would be better used preparing for winter than preparing for war. He left that to Kjell and everything else to his queen. He wore the dejected air of a man defeated, and though he worked as hard as any man, his eyes strayed to the forests, and he listened with only half an ear when Kjell sought his counsel." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"In Jeru City the Volgar surprised us. In Caarn, we know they're coming.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"How did you defeat them?\" a young recruit asked.\n\n\"Queen Lark made them fall from the sky,\" Kjell answered, remembering.\n\n\"How did she do that?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "the Sea Changer marveled." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"With words. But we don't have words,\" Kjell mused.\n\n\"But we have wind,\" Dev's mother spoke up. \"My son could make a great gust to knock them down.\"\n\n\"We have earth,\" Jedah added." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"We have sound,\" Boom bellowed, trying to whisper but making the glass in the windows shake instead." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"And we have vines,\" Jerick reminded.\n\n\"We will spread vines from the castle walls to the turrets. When we are finished, the Castle of Caarn will look like a giant tent, covered in green. And we will stand beneath, spears raised, waiting for the Volgar to fall into our pit. When they do, their wings will tangle in the vines, and we will kill them.\"\n\nThey would use everything they had, and Kjell would continue to pray that the Changer, who still lurked somewhere in the woods, would wait her turn to come against him, or give up altogether. Even Changers were not safe from Volgar bloodlust." }, { "from": "human", "value": "The thought encouraged him." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Kjell was awakened by a shake to his shoulder and a reluctant voice in his ear. It was the cat-eyed Gaspar, and his irises gleamed above Kjell in the dark.\n\n\"Captain, there is someone at the gate who seeks entry.\"\n\nKjell was awake immediately, shooting up from his bed, images of the Changer pleading sweetly with the watchman playing through his head." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"He says he is King Tiras of Jeru. But he is . . . unclad. He insisted you would want to see him. D-do you want to see him, sir?\" Gaspar sounded doubtful." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Kjell tumbled from his bed, pulling on his boots as his heart leapt with joy and disbelief. Tiras? In Caarn. God be praised. Tiras in Caarn.\n\nHis brother stood beyond the castle gates, his arms folded across his brown chest, his stance wide, his jaw defiant." }, { "from": "human", "value": "It was the same way he stood when he was crowned and caped." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "And he was stark naked.\n\n\"Raise the gate,\" Kjell shouted, scrambling from the watchtower the way he'd scrambled up it.\n\nTiras strode into the courtyard as though the palace were his, and Kjell grabbed him up, laughing and shaking him, overjoyed and half convinced he'd finally broken under the strain of the last months.\n\n\"Where are your bloody clothes?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"It is the burden of being a Changer, brother. You know this. I flew to Kilmorda, I swam to Dendar. Neither birds nor sea creatures have need of raiment.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Gaspar was gaping, and the garrison had begun to empty behind them, men streaming out and greeting their king. Jerick tossed Tiras a tunic and breeches, bowing as his smile split his face.\n\n\"Welcome to Caarn, King Tiras. I've never been so happy to see a naked man in my whole life.\"\n\n\"Lieutenant.\" Tiras grinned in greeting." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Count yourself among the blessed. Now where can an ill-clad king find some supper and some ale?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Come, brother,\" Kjell choked, too emotional to say more, and led Tiras to the west entrance to the castle kitchens, knowing Yetta would have something fit for a king in the larder. Isak ran ahead to light the lamps, a courtesy Kjell acknowledged even as he quickly dismissed his men. His composure was cracked, his emotions high, his heart full, and his mind swimming. He didn't want his men to see him weep." }, { "from": "human", "value": "He loaded a platter for his brother, watching as Tiras shoved food into his mouth and gulped at his ale, hungry in a way that gave testament to the miles he'd come." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"How did you find us?\" Kjell choked, still struggling to compose himself.\n\n\"The roads in Dendar all lead to Caarn.\" Tiras swallowed and went back for more." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"The Star Maker was quite proud of the fact. The bird's eye view is quite remarkable.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"You should not have left Queen Lark,\" Kjell murmured. \"She would never forgive me if you didn't return.\"\n\n\"I could not stay away. You would have come for me.\"\n\nKjell could not deny that truth and nodded, overcome once more." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"You promised me you would return,\" Tiras chided. \"What happened?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Kjell hardly knew where to start. \"There was no one here when we arrived. Not a soul,\" he began. He relayed the events of the last months, the wolf in the woods, the loss of the ship, and the empty bay. He told Tiras about the Spinners disguised as trees and the healing that had brought them all back." }, { "from": "human", "value": "He told him how the forest had parted at his command and about the woman named Koorah who would have been queen." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Finally, he expressed his fears that Lady Firi had followed him from Quondoon to Caarn.\n\nTiras listened with a lowered brow and thin lips, and by the time Kjell had finished his account, he had risen to his feet, his meal consumed and his third glass of ale forgotten.\n\n\"The Creator have mercy, brother. What a tale,\" he whispered. \"What a tale.\"\n\n\"It is true. Every word. I thought I might not ever see you again.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Tiras faced him, and Kjell could see his own feelings mirrored in his brother's eyes." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"You are thin, Kjell,\" he observed.\n\n\"I am not,\" Kjell scoffed.\n\nTiras laughed and shook his head, relieving the emotional tension. \"All right. You are not. But you are thinner. You look worn.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Sasha is pleased with the grey in my hair,\" Kjell disputed, running a hand over his head." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"She is pleased with the hair on your arse, but don't let that convince you it's attractive,\" Tiras retorted. Kjell glowered and Tiras groaned.\n\n\"I'm sorry, brother. I mean no disrespect to Queen Saoirse. I fear for you. That is all. There is Volgar stench in the air.\"\n\n\"They are coming, Tiras. Sasha has seen it,\" Kjell said, realizing he had not told his brother everything." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Damnation, Kjell!\" Tiras cursed." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"You need to leave. You need to go back to Jeru, to Lark, and to your child,\" Kjell urged. \"Rest tonight. Leave tomorrow.\"\n\n\"Is that what you would do, Kjell?\" Tiras asked softly. \"We've fought the Volgar together many times before.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Please don't do that to me, Tiras. I cannot demand Sasha leave, and I cannot leave these people to face the Volgar alone. King Aren is not a warrior. They have no army. No weapons. No bloody defenses. But this is not your fight. This is not your kingdom. And it is not worth your life.\"" }, { "from": "system", "value": "Next message should be approximately 5 sentences." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"I will stay until you can return with me,\" Tiras replied, adamant.\n\nIt was Kjell's turn to swear and sigh.\n\n\"We will fight them together, and you will come home,\" Tiras repeated, his voice brooking no argument.\n\nKjell nodded wearily, bending to Tiras's will as he had a dozen times before, but in his heart he knew he lied. When the battle was done, live or die, Kjell would not be returning to Jeru." } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Provide four sentences as a continuation." }, { "from": "system", "value": "Produce a starting prompt please." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Light glanced off of the empty throne and streaked across the wide room, peeking around corners and climbing the walls. Silence was the only occupant. Something fluttered overhead, breaking the stillness. Vines with leaves so emerald they appeared black in the shadows, wrapped their way around the rocks and past the windows, filtering the light and casting the interior in a wash of green." }, { "from": "human", "value": "The castle was holding her breath." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "She'd been holding her breath for so long.\n\nThen, through the stillness, a cry rang out, lusty and strong, and the castle released her breath on a long sigh. The child had arrived. A girl. The first daughter of King Kjell and Queen Saoirse, a new daughter of Caarn." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Her mother had longed for her, her father rejoiced when she was placed in his arms, and her brothers—all four of them—gazed down at her with varying degrees of adoration and distrust." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Princess Koorah had finally arrived.\n\nThe staff had been busy in anticipation of her birth. The happiness of the day clung and quivered, breathing welcome and promise to all who entered there. The wood shone, the tapestries glowed, and in the corridor, the portraits of the kings had been carefully dusted." }, { "from": "human", "value": "The row of painted royals looked down on passersby, pale-haired and softly smiling." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Except for the last. His hair was dark, his eyes fierce, and his mouth turned down. He wore his crown of gold as though it were a crown of thorns, sharp and uncomfortable against his brow. The woman beside him in the picture—her own crown as natural to her as the golden flecks on her skin—gazed up at him with soft eyes and curved lips, his hand clutched in hers." }, { "from": "human", "value": "She rarely let go." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Some speculated that young Kjell, the oldest prince of Caarn, was actually the son of the late king. He was born six months after Aren died and the Healer made vows to the Seer. But as he grew, few had doubts as to his sire. He was big for his age and had the same pale eyes and dark hair as his father." }, { "from": "human", "value": "When people saw him, they always knew." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "His mother had caught him with his head tipped, listening to things she couldn't hear, mimicking a melody she hadn't taught him. His father had shown him how to press gentle fingers to the breast of a dying bird, and together they'd watched it fly away, whole.\n\nTwin boys—Gibbous and Peter in honor of the men who'd lost their lives on the Jyraen Sea—were born two years after their older brother. Their red hair and vivid eyes gave them the look of mischievous elves, and Grandfather Tree recognized their small hands and their climbing feet, widening his boughs and spreading his branches to catch them should they fall." }, { "from": "human", "value": "The walls of their nursery were constantly flowering, and the castle staff had found a stalk of corn growing in Peter's chest of drawers." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "When King Kjell declared his fourth son Lucian Maximus, everyone commented on the fine name and never knew it was chosen to honor a beloved horse and a patient dog. Lucian Maximus longed to run and fly and swim, not unlike his namesakes, and the first time he changed he was only three years old. Queen Saoirse found a small bear in her young son's cradle and got her first grey hair.\n\nCaarn had grown. Dendar had flourished." }, { "from": "human", "value": "People had returned, and the Volgar had not." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Animals roamed the hills and the surrounding fields. Grazing cattle and galloping horses dotted the countryside. Dogs barked, lazy cats sunned themselves on the rock walls, and the chickens clucked and strutted, chastising the pigs in their pens.\n\nThe forests had grown too, welcoming the Spinners of Caarn when their days grew numbered, watching over the valley that thrived and spread." }, { "from": "human", "value": "The trees were not aware of the passing of days or the turn of the seasons." }, { "from": "system", "value": "Next message should be approximately 2 sentences." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "They simply grew, keeping their patient vigil, graciously sharing their gifts. Sometimes the Healer, a son of Caarn, would walk among them with reverent hands, greeting them and whispering thanks, and the trees would nod their leafy heads, thanking him in return." } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Write 4 sentences sentences in the style of Jennifer L. Armentrout spawning from what the user wrote." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Sunlight streamed in through the terrace doors, and for several moments, all I could do was sit there and stare at the open door." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "I couldn't believe what'd happened, from the moment I woke up, all tangled up with him, until he left the bedchamber. What had happened to him left me confused. And my actions, what I'd done and allowed, left me stunned and in a daze.\n\nCasteel had lost his mind." }, { "from": "human", "value": "I'd lost my mind." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Kieran closed the door, cutting off the rush of sweet-scented air and snapping me from my thoughts. My gaze cut to where he stood in front of the fireplace. The flames had calmed, no longer stirred by the wind. \"Did he hurt you?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"What?\" My voice was hoarse as I blinked." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Did he hurt you, Penellaphe?\" Kieran repeated, his voice softening.\n\n\"No. He…\" I looked at my bare legs. He hadn't hurt me." }, { "from": "human", "value": "He could've, and I wasn't even sure if he hadn't wanted to, but he'd done the furthest thing from hurting me." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Reaching for the blanket, I tugged it to my waist.\n\nA muscle flexed in Kieran's jaw. \"He didn't force himself on you?\"\n\n\"Gods, no.\" I shoved the hair back from my face and caught sight of the knife." }, { "from": "human", "value": "It remained where I'd dropped it on the bed." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Casteel hadn't forced anything, and the truth was, I could've stopped what'd happened at any point if I wanted to. I could've wounded him enough to attempt an escape. But I hadn't because I…I'd wanted what'd happened. I'd woken up wanting that." }, { "from": "human", "value": "And I didn't know if Casteel had sensed my desire through whatever had its claws in him, but regardless, I had wanted that." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Him.\n\nI searched for remorse or shame, anything that would show that I regretted what'd taken place, but there was nothing. Like before, there was just vast confusion and irritation with myself because I knew better—knew that things like this just aided in me falling more and more for him. Not too long ago, I had told him that nothing like that would ever happen again, and I'd proven that I couldn't trust myself to make good life choices—not once or twice but three times." }, { "from": "human", "value": "The pantry. The nightmare. And now, this." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "How could I want him so badly that I didn't care about what he did or who he was? Or what he might do to me?\n\n\"What happened?\" Kieran asked.\n\nIt took a couple of moments for me to gather my thoughts." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"He woke up, and it was like he didn't recognize me. He was snarling, and his eyes were pitch-black.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "I left out quite a bit there as I looked at Kieran, but I was sure he already knew a great deal of what'd happened. \"His eyes reminded me of an Ascended. Is he…will he be okay?\"\n\nKieran's face was impressively blank, considering what had just happened. \"He should be once he cools down.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Cools down? I think he needs more than that.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "I glanced at the door. \"He was about to attack you.\"\n\n\"In that moment, he saw me as a challenge.\" He paused. \"A threat.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"To who? Him?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"You.\"\n\nMy heart turned over heavily. \"That doesn't make sense.\"\n\nKieran folded his arms over his broad chest." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Under the right or, I suppose extreme circumstances, those of his kind can become quite possessive.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"With what? Their meals?\"\n\n\"Did he bite you?\"\n\n\"Other than the first time?\" I resisted the urge to touch the nearly faded mark on my throat. \"No.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Something akin to disappointment flickered over his face, and without thinking, I opened my gift and reached out to him." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "There would be time later to feel guilt over prying when it didn't seem exactly necessary. What I felt wasn't what I imagined disappointment to feel like. This was thick and cloying, reminding me of too-heavy cream. Concern. He felt concern." }, { "from": "human", "value": "I pulled my senses back." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"What was wrong with him?\" I asked, even though I already suspected I knew.\n\nHe watched me for a moment. \"He'll be fine. Although, I suggest you take this time to prepare yourself before he returns.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Frustration surged, and I narrowed my eyes." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Thanks for the suggestion, but you didn't answer my question. You said that you warned him. About what?\"\n\nKieran said nothing.\n\nNever able to remain seated when anger started pumping through my blood, I grabbed the dagger and shoved off the blanket, standing.\n\nHe raised an eyebrow at me." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"You plan to use that?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Why does everyone think I'm going to stab them when I pick up anything that's not blunt?\"\n\n\"Well,\" Kieran replied blandly, \"you do have a habit of doing exactly that.\"\n\nI started to argue but quickly realized that, unfortunately, he had a point. \"Only when it's deserved.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "I placed the dagger on the small wooden table." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"And it's not my fault that some of you deserve to be stabbed. Repeatedly.\"\n\nHe inclined his head as if he agreed with the point I'd made. \"You shouldn't worry about him—\"\n\n\"And you should answer my question.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "I faced him. \"Something was obviously wrong with him. He wasn't in control, and I felt his hunger. He was starving.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"So you used your abilities?\" A faint smile appeared. \"Glad you took my advice.\"\n\nI rolled my eyes." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"I know that Atlantians need to feed off other Atlantians. He told me that they don't need the blood of mortals, but of their own kind. That they need to feed. But he never said why. I may not be a scholar on all things Atlantian, but I'm guessing the black eyes and him being ready to bite your head off are a couple of the reasons Atlantians need to feed?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"The black eyes, yes. But the wanting to bite my head off probably had more to do with whatever morning activities you two were indulging in.\"\n\nMy face flamed hotly, and it took everything in me to ignore that. \"He needs to feed—\" I thought about earlier, after the Dead Bones Clan attack. \"That's why he was staring at my arm in the woods! When you asked if he was okay. He was hungry then. That's why he was…all growly and wanted to bite your head off.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Part of the reason. Yes.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Kieran looked away, dragging his teeth over his lip. A long moment passed. \"He needs to feed. I could tell he was getting to the edge, but he's not about to tip over it. He's not that close.\"\n\nUnease blossomed. \"How can he not be close? He didn't recognize you or me.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "His gaze slid back to mine." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"If he was closer to the edge, he would've ripped my head off, and you would be Ascending as we speak, forbidden or not. Or, you'd be dead. If he was too close to the edge, one drop of your blood would've sent him over. You most likely would've died, and when he realized what he'd done, he would've…I don't even want to think about what he would've done.\"\n\nI sucked in a sharp breath, unsure which of those two options was worse. Well, Kieran getting his head torn off sounded way more painful and…messy than what could've happened to me.\n\nIf Casteel had been too close to the edge, if he'd fed and then ended up turning me, I would become…an Ascended." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Unable to control my bloodlust." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Unable to walk in the sun. Virtually immortal. But what kind of life was that?\n\nThough what kind of life would I even have with Casteel? By the time I was old and gray, he would look as he did now. Young. Vital." }, { "from": "human", "value": "He would—" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Wait. Why was I even thinking about a future—our future—when there really wasn't one? Maybe I truly had lost my mind.\n\nI felt like I needed to sit down. \"If this was him not close to the edge, then I don't think I want to see him on it.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"No, you do not.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Kieran tipped his head back against the wall. \"Did he wake up normally, or was he startled awake?\"\n\nThinking of what I'd been doing and fantasizing about before he'd woken up, I was glad that Kieran wasn't looking at me. \"I think I woke him up. I moved, and that's when he sort of launched himself at me.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"That makes sense,\" he murmured, eyes closing." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"I don't like talking about him—about this kind of stuff. If he knew I was, he probably would rip my head off. I'd deserve it because there are things only he should be allowed to repeat. But I think you need to know this even though I'm not sure you deserve to be privy to the knowledge.\"\n\n\"Why wouldn't I be deserving?\" I asked. It wasn't like I was the one running around and kidnapping people. Casteel was.\n\n\"Because this is something only close friends and loved ones should be privy to, and you are neither.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Well, he had a point there." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "But I already knew what Kieran didn't think would be right to share. \"He told me before that he had nightmares, and that sometimes when he woke, he didn't know where he was.\"\n\nIn any other situation, I would've laughed upon seeing Kieran so surprised. But none of this was funny. \"He told you?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "I nodded. \"I had a nightmare—I have bad ones—and after one of them woke him, he told me about his.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Kieran's expression smoothed out. \"Yes. He has nightmares. You know what was done to him when he was held by the Ascended. Sometimes, he finds himself back there, caged and used, his blood nor his body his.\"\n\nThis time, I sat down before even realizing it, though I wasn't surprised to find myself there. The heaviness of his words had put me there, and the reminder of the agony and horror of what Casteel had faced kept me there." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"When he has those nightmares he told you about, and if he's startled awake, sometimes his mind gets stuck in that madness,\" Kieran went on." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "And if anyone knew how nightmares could feel so very real, it was me. \"And if he hasn't fed, he can slip a little into the animal they turned him into.\"\n\nA monster.\n\nShuddering, I closed my eyes." }, { "from": "human", "value": "What had he said when I'd called him a monster?" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "I wasn't born that way. I was made this way. But he wasn't that. My heart ached as fiercely as it had when Casteel had told me about his captivity." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Letting out a shaky breath, I opened my eyes to find Kieran watching me." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"He's not an animal,\" I said, and I wasn't sure why I'd said it, but I needed to. \"I don't know what he is, but he's not that. He's not a monster.\"\n\n\"No, he's not.\" His head tilted to the side. \"I think you would've liked him if you had met him before all of this.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Uncomfortable with how much I would've preferred that, I folded one arm over my waist." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "A sad, wry smile formed on Kieran's face, almost as if he knew what I was thinking. \"I imagine a lot would be different.\"\n\nI nodded slowly, pulling myself out of the well of sorrow that was a cavern in my chest. \"Why hasn't he fed? There were Atlantians at the keep, right? There are Atlantians here.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Kieran nodded. \"There are many he could've fed from but he hasn't.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Why? Why would he let it get to this point?\"\n\nHe raised an eyebrow. \"That's a damn good question, isn't it?\"\n\nMy damn good question didn't have an answer, and it plagued me as I washed up and dressed in the baggy pants and the deep green tunic that had been in the bundle Quentyn had given me." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Other unanswered questions bothered me, as well." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Why wouldn't Casteel have fed? Were the nightmares also partly responsible for the cutting sadness that clung to him? If this was him not too close to the edge, then what was he like when he was at the edge? What would've happened if he hadn't…well, fed from me differently?" }, { "from": "human", "value": "And why in the world had I allowed him, when he was obviously not in his right mind, to do what he'd done?" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "And why had he done that? Did bloodlust elicit such actions? Or was it because he'd sensed my arousal? My cheeks burned, and I wasn't sure I wanted to know the answer to that question." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Either way, I had been wrong when I said that I didn't have a death wish." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Because what if he had been teetering on that edge and he'd used that mouth for something else?\n\nMy stomach dipped as I ran a brush through my tangled hair. In the soft lamplight, the strands reminded me more of a ruby-hued wine than a blazing fire, like it often did in the sun. I angled my head to the side." }, { "from": "human", "value": "The bite marks were no longer visible, but I left my hair down anyway and then stepped back into the bedchamber." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Kieran stood by the terrace doors, staring out them. I wasn't exactly surprised to see that he was still here. \"Are you on babysitting duty? I agreed to the marriage,\" I said as I picked up the thigh sheath. The word marriage still sounded strange on my tongue." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"I'm not going to run.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He turned to me. \"I was waiting to see if you'd like to get some breakfast.\"\n\n\"Oh.\" I slid the wolven dagger into the holder and then straightened the hem of the tunic. The top was more form-fitting than I was used to, but it was clean." }, { "from": "human", "value": "I glanced at the door." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Should we...should we wait for Casteel?\"\n\nHe turned to me. \"That won't be necessary. He'll find us when he's ready.\"\n\nI nibbled on my lower lip." }, { "from": "human", "value": "It didn't feel right to go off when he was…well, going through whatever he was." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "And it also felt weird to be so concerned about him.\n\n\"Are you hungry right now?\" Kieran asked, dragging my attention back to him. \"Or would you like to see the Bay?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"The Bay,\" I chose, knowing my stomach was still too tied up in knots to eat anything yet." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Good.\" Kieran turned and opened the door.\n\nWarmer air than I expected greeted us as we walked outside and across the yard. Within a few moments, I shoved the sleeves of my sweater up. \"I didn't expect it to be this nice here—weather-wise.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Next to Carsodonia, we're at the most southern part of Solis. It'll get cooler at night, especially as the season turns, but the days will remain pleasant.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Just like the capital.\" I tipped my head back, letting the sun wash over my face as I heard the sound of distant voices and laughter coming from what I assumed was beyond the fortress. \"Were you at the capital with Casteel?\"\n\n\"For a time, yes. I wasn't exactly a fan,\" he said, and I glanced over at him with a raised brow." }, { "from": "human", "value": "He shrugged a shoulder." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Too many Ascended. Too many people crowded together.\"\n\n\"And there aren't too many people crowded in Atlantia?\" I asked as we walked past a crumbling stone wall. The black waters of Stygian Bay glittered like pools of obsidian, still and vast." }, { "from": "human", "value": "It went on as far as I could see, disappearing into the horizon." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Not yet, but if we continue growing, our cities will be as crowded.\"\n\nReaching the top of a slight hill, I turned, unable to see anything beyond the fortress walls. \"But you have Spessa's End.\"\n\nKieran nodded, and I still couldn't believe that there was anything here." }, { "from": "human", "value": "I started down the hill, and the grass gave way to sand." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "There was no damp scent as we drew close to the broken piers that jutted up from the water like decayed fingers. The air smelled of lavender, except I saw none of the purple-tipped plants. I stared at the lifeless, midnight waters, wondering when or if the god that slumbered within the Bay would wake. If so, what would the God of Common Men and Endings think of the world he'd left behind, of what was being done to the mortals he cared for in death?" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Looking down, a sudden urge swept through me." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"It has been years since I felt sand under my feet.\"\n\n\"Now is a better time than any to feel it again, I suppose.\"\n\nHis dry response didn't deter me as I yanked off my boots and socks. A grin tugged at my lips as I wiggled my toes in the warm, coarse sand." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Kieran snorted. \"Malik used the do the same as soon as he reached the sand. Tear off his shoes so he could feel it against his feet.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "A heaviness settled over me as I walked toward the Bay, leaving my shoes and socks behind in a pile. \"What was Malik like? I mean, what is he like?\"\n\nKieran followed a few steps behind me, silent for a long moment. \"He was kind and generous but also a wicked prankster. Casteel was always the far more serious one.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "He joined me. \"He was the brother you would've thought was being groomed from birth to be King.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Casteel, the serious one? That surprised me more than the fact that a god slept in the Bay.\n\nMy thoughts must've been visible on my face because he said, \"The way Casteel is with you—the teasing and trying to get a rise out of you—isn't how he is with most.\"\n\n\"So, it's an act?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"No, Casteel is just more…alive when he's with you,\" he said, and I—" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "I thought my jaw might hit the sand.\n\n\"And Malik was the life and soul of the family,\" Kieran continued. I picked my mouth up off the ground. \"And the past tense is correct. Even if he lives, he will not be who he used to be.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"But he'll have his family to help him remember—his parents, Casteel, you,\" I reasoned." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"All of you can help him remember who he once was.\"\n\nKieran didn't respond.\n\nI looked at him. \"Do you…do you think he still lives?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"He has to. Even if the vamprys have been capturing Atlantians all these years, full-blooded or half, they would not allow the Prince to die. With him, it takes less blood to complete the Ascension. He's too much of a prize to let wither and die.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Stomach churning, I briefly closed my eyes. While a large part of me hoped he still lived, a small part almost wished he didn't. Whatever existence he had under the Ascended's control was no life.\n\nThe question that was already answered surfaced again." }, { "from": "human", "value": "How could the Ascended be allowed to continue?" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "They couldn't be.\n\nIf Casteel and I were successful, then would I seriously be content spending the rest of my life safely hidden away while the Ascended continued ruling the people of Solis with fear? Stealing their children and who knew how many other people? If the Queen and King lived or died, wouldn't the other Ascended simply find another Atlantian to continue making more Ascended, even if it were forbidden?" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Casteel wanted to avoid war, but how could anyone be sure that the Royals would change?" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "That they wouldn't seek to go back to the way things were?\n\nKieran shifted slightly, looking over his shoulder. I followed his gaze, squinting. Three or four people walked past the crumbling walls, their clothing a vibrant array of golds and blues." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Who are they?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Not entirely sure who they are,\" Kieran answered, turning back around. \"But most of the people here are older Descenters and Atlantians and wolven.\"\n\nI watched them until I could no longer see them, my stomach twisting into tiny knots. How would they respond to me?" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Friendly and outgoing like Elijah and Alastir, or would they be like the rest?" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Casteel and I came here once when we were younger, before the town was razed,\" Kieran said, catching my attention. \"It was one of the first times we'd left Atlantia. Malik was with us, and the people who lived here, those who were half-Atlantian or supporters knew who we were and behaved as if Rhain himself had risen from the Bay.\"\n\nNot one but two Princes in their midst must have stirred up some excitement.\n\n\"A lot of people crowded the edges of the Bay.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "He squinted as if he were trying to see what had once been here." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"A small girl slipped on the embankment and fell into the water. There was panic and helplessness as everyone stood at the edge.\"\n\nI sat down, several feet from the water's edge. \"No one jumped in after her?\"\n\nHe shook his head." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"No mortal enters these waters and returns. The people believed that Rhain's sentries would capture anyone who dared, grabbing their ankles and pulling them down below.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "One side of his lips quirked up in a wry grin as he lowered himself to the spot beside me. \"But Cas jumped in. Didn't even think twice about it. Just dove right in, even though the girl had slipped under and hadn't resurfaced.\"\n\nI turned back to the Bay. \"Did he find her?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"He did. Pulled her back to the water's edge where Malik and—\" He drew in a deep breath, stretching out a leg." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"One of our friends was able to force the water from her lungs. The girl breathed. She lived. And those who were unaware of what Malik and Cas were, truly believed they were gods.\"\n\nI was happy to hear that the girl had lived, and I hoped that what happened to this town came long after her time. But my brain got stuck on something. Kieran had almost said a name for this friend, and I had a good idea who it was." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Was it Shea who came here with you all?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"What?\" Kieran's head snapped in my direction. \"How do you know her name?\" His eyes narrowed, and before I could respond, he muttered, \"Alastir.\"\n\nI nodded. \"Alastir told me about her. That Casteel was once engaged to his daughter.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "His features sharpened. \"Alastir shouldn't have said anything.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Why? That was his daughter,\" I argued. \"He lost her, too, and before you get mad at him, he even told me he probably shouldn't have brought her up. I haven't said anything to Casteel.\" Well, that was kind of true.\n\n\"But, of course, you have questions.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"I do,\" I admitted." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Kieran slowly shook his head as he stared out over the Bay. \"You're not asking for my advice, but I'm going to give it to you, nonetheless. This time, I truly hope you listen.\" His icy blue eyes met mine. \"Don't bring up Shea with Cas. That is a road you don't want to travel with him. Ever.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "My brows lifted. \"But she's a part of him and—\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"And why does that matter to you?\" he challenged. \"This marriage will only be temporary, correct? Why do you need to know about those who shaped who he is today? That kind of knowledge is for those who plan on a future.\"\n\nI snapped my mouth shut as frustration boiled inside me. Kieran was right, but…" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Sighing, I looked over my shoulder, able to see the upper walls of the fortress." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Had Casteel cooled down? \"Are you sure he'll be okay?\"\n\nKieran's head inclined as he studied me. \"Do you want an honest answer or one that will make this easier for you?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"You said earlier that he'd be okay,\" I pointed out as dread blossomed to life." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"He will be.\" He paused. \"For now.\"\n\n\"What is that supposed to mean?\"\n\n\"It means that he'll be okay for a little longer, but he needs to feed. He's gone too long.\"\n\nDread pumped through me, alive and well." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"When was the last time he fed?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"I'm not sure, but it had to be when we were in Masadonia.\" He dragged a hand over his head and then dropped it, glancing back to the water. \"Normally, he'd be able to go for weeks without feeding, but he's given you blood twice, and then he was wounded. That moved him closer to the edge.\"\n\n\"He didn't need to give me his blood last time.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "His gaze swiveled back to mine." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"I know. I told him not to, but he did it anyway. He didn't want to see you in pain.\"\n\nI sucked in a short breath. \"And now he's in pain because of that. Because of me?\"\n\n\"It's not because of you, Penellaphe. It was his choice. Just as it has been his choice not to feed.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"I still don't get that.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Frustrated, I picked up a fistful of sand. \"Why would he do this to himself? I felt his hunger, Kieran. It was intense, and the longer he goes, it will only get worse—\"\n\n\"And you will be more at risk.\"\n\nI stilled, even though my heart thundered." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"I thought he was the only person I was safe with. Isn't that what you said?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"You are, but when an Atlantian doesn't feed, no one is safe. Not even those they care about or even love.\"\n\nAir left me in a singular rush. Love? \"He doesn't care for me.\"\n\nKieran stared back at me." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"If it helps you to believe that, then by all means, continue. But that doesn't make it true.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "I glared at him. \"And just because you spout vague statements doesn't make whatever you're saying true either.\"\n\n\"He gave you his blood when you didn't need it, just so you wouldn't be in pain when you woke—\"\n\n\"And so I didn't delay in leaving New Haven!\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Funny how we weren't planning to leave the moment you woke anyway,\" he replied." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Which you're conveniently forgetting.\"\n\nI clamped my mouth shut.\n\n\"Even if that were the case, which it isn't, if he didn't care, he wouldn't have been concerned over you being uncomfortable during our travels, would he? And if he didn't care, he would've used a hundred different compulsions at this point, no matter how temporary, to keep you better controlled, something that would make all our lives easier.\"\n\nMy eyes narrowed." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"He wouldn't be marrying you, risking the ire of not just his entire kingdom but also his parents, who you will soon discover are not two people you want to anger just so you have a chance to make it through this alive, free from the Ascended and from him. If that is what you choose,\" he went on." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"But more importantly, he would've stuck to the plan he spent years cultivating, and we would've already been halfway to Carsodonia to exchange you for his brother. Yet, here we are. And the only reason why any of that changed is because once he got to know you, he started to care for you.\"\n\nI wanted Kieran to take back those words because they did things to my heart, and even worse, dangerous things to my mind.\n\n\"You're annoying,\" I muttered.\n\n\"The truth often is. But you want to know an even more annoying truth?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Not really.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Too bad, because you need to hear this. He cares for just like you care for him despite the lies and the betrayal,\" Kieran stated. \"That's why, even when you were the Maiden, you shared your secrets with him and allowed him things you would've never permitted anyone else. That's why you didn't use that dagger strapped to your thigh this morning, even though you knew how to use it against an Atlantian. That's why you want to know more about Shea. It's why, even now, you are concerned about him.\" His eyes flashed an intense blue. \"And just so you know, the only reason I didn't end your life the second I learned that you stabbed him in the heart is because he cares for you. Is that less vague enough for you, Penellaphe?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "My lips parted on a shaky inhale." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "I didn't want to hear what he said. I didn't want to recognize the truth of his words. Acknowledging them was…it felt irrevocable.\n\nBecause caring for Casteel meant more than just wanting him." }, { "from": "human", "value": "It meant either forgiving or forgetting his lies and betrayals, and I didn't know if that was right or wrong." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Because him caring for me meant more than just an agreement or pretending, and the implications of all of that was…well, it was terrifying for a multitude of reasons. Kieran could be wrong. Casteel could care for me, but not deeply. While I would…oh, gods, I already knew what it meant for me to care for him—what I desperately wished wasn't the case." }, { "from": "human", "value": "That I'd started falling in love with him when we first met and hadn't stopped." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "But beyond that, I was the Maiden—a person his people, his family, would most likely loathe. I was only half-Atlantian. I would age and die, and he would be who he was today for so many years, it would feel like an eternity to me.\n\nI stared at the sand, feeling more out of my element now than I had since this whole thing started." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"The night before I learned who he really was, I had already decided that I could no longer be the Maiden. It wasn't just because of him. Maybe how I felt about him was the start of me realizing that I could never live in the skin of the Maiden, but I wanted to stay with him,\" I admitted, my voice hoarse and barely above a whisper." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Even though I thought he was a Royal Guard and would have to basically go into hiding with me, I wanted to be with him—to stay with him somehow. Because he made me feel…. He made me feel like I was alive.\" I swallowed hard. \"I did care for him. I cared for him a lot.\"\n\n\"He was Casteel then just like he's Hawke now,\" Kieran stated quietly, drawing my gaze to him. \"And you know that. You just aren't ready to accept it.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "I briefly squeezed my eyes shut." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Still, caring for him could cause a chain of reactions I wouldn't be able to prevent. Caring for him felt like I was betraying not just Vikter and Rylan and all of those who'd died because of him, but also myself. That I forgave his lies and his misdeeds. Still caring meant…\n\n\"Still caring for him would only lead to heartache,\" I whispered, knowing the truth right then and there." }, { "from": "human", "value": "I did care. I never stopped caring." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "And acknowledging that felt as if I'd slipped under the black water.\n\n\"It doesn't have to,\" Kieran said. \"But even so, sometimes, the heartbreak that comes with loving someone is worth it, even if loving that person means eventually saying goodbye to them.\"\n\nThe roughness in his tone spoke more than his words shared." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"You sound like you have experience with that.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"I do.\" A long moment of silence passed between us. \"Do you know what happens when an Atlantian cares for someone?\"\n\nI shook my head, wanting to know more about this person that he'd loved but had to say goodbye to.\n\nKieran didn't give me a chance." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"They find the idea of feeding from someone else repellent. It's too intimate for them to even consider. And if the partner is mortal? It usually takes the mortal proving to the other that it's okay for them to feed, and in some cases, the Atlantian is lost to the darkness of hunger. That's why he hasn't fed.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "My heart thudded against my ribs as I told myself that couldn't be the case with Casteel. It just couldn't.\n\nKieran was quiet only for a few minutes. \"Cas told me once that he felt as if he already knew you after speaking with you just a few times.\"\n\nI wiggled my toes in the sand once more." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"I asked him about that.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"This is my surprised face,\" Kieran murmured, and when I looked at him, his expression was the same as always. Bored with a hint of amusement.\n\nMy lips twitched despite the insanity of our conversation as I turned back to the sparkling, sun-drenched midnight water. \"He told me he believed it was the Atlantian blood in him, recognizing mine.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"And you felt the same?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "I nodded. \"Is that a possibility?\"\n\n\"Possibly,\" he said after a moment. \"But I don't think that's the case. I think it's something deeper than that. Something intangible, far rarer and stronger than bloodlines and even the gods. Something powerful enough that it has ushered in great change in the past.\"\n\nTensing, I had a feeling I didn't want to know what he thought." }, { "from": "human", "value": "That whatever it was would be even more earth-shattering than what he'd already shared." }, { "from": "system", "value": "Your next one should be approximately 2 sentences." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "It'd be words given life that I wouldn't be able to control.\n\n\"I think you're heartmates.\"" } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "I'll be your writing partner today. I will set the scene, and you will continue the story with four sentences, channeling the voice and techniques of Jennifer L. Armentrout.i'll kick things off by writing a bit, then you'll take over and write the next four sentences in the distinctive voice of Jennifer L. Armentrout.Ive got a bit of writers block, im gonna send you something then keep it going four sentences at a time, also im going for a Jennifer L. Armentrout sorta thing." }, { "from": "system", "value": "Produce a starting prompt please." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The realization had a far more chilling effect than it should, and it was all Kieran's stupid heartmates conversation's fault.\n\nAnd come to think of it, why in the hell hadn't Kieran brought this up?\n\nThen I thought of having this conversation with Kieran, and I wanted to take a wire brush to my brain. As handsome as I believed Kieran to be, I just…I couldn't even begin to imagine doing something like that with him." }, { "from": "human", "value": "With him and Casteel." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "I looked around for a glass of water, but there was none.\n\n\"You don't need to worry about this. I don't think he'd expect something like that. Casteel is not about the old traditions,\" Alastir said.\n\n\"But would the wolven expect that?\" I asked, and then the worst thing ever spewed from my mouth." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Would Shea have done it?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Alastir's eyes widened.\n\nI immediately wished I hadn't said anything. \"I'm sorry. I imagine as a wolven, she wouldn't have been expected to. And I shouldn't have brought her up—\"\n\n\"No. No, it's okay.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Alastir stretched forward, placing his hand on mine." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Don't apologize. I'm actually glad you're willing to speak of her.\" He smiled again, squeezing my hand before leaning back. \"Although she was a wolven, it is a tradition that some would've expected to be honored, and Kieran's oath would have also extended to her. She was…\" He pressed his lips together, and a long moment passed. \"Shea never backed down from anything, no matter if others found it distasteful or crude. She would've done anything for Casteel.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "And would Casteel have gone through with it?" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Gods, I didn't even want to think about that.\n\nI swallowed as I sank into the chair. My head started racing again.\n\n\"I've taken up enough of your time.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Alastir once again began to rise." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Wait,\" I nearly yelled as something occurred to me. \"If the Joining can extend a mortal's life, then why didn't King Malec do that with Isbeth—his mistress? Instead of making her a vampry? Or wasn't he bonded?\"\n\nAlastir stared at me as if I'd suggested whole-heartedly embracing the Ascended's way of life. \"King Malec had a bonded wolven. Actually, he had more than one since he often outlived them. But it wouldn't have worked on a mortal. The partner has to carry Atlantian blood in them, and even if that woman had Atlantian blood in her, it would've been a grave insult to the Queen. One that went beyond carrying on affairs. Any wolven of worth would've refused. That much, I know.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "His gaze met mine and held." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"How old do you think I am?\"\n\nHis question threw me. \"I…I don't know. Far older than you look, I imagine.\"\n\n\"I've seen eight hundred years.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Good gods." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"And the reason I know his bonded wolven would've refused if asked?\" Alastir stated. \"It's because I was his last, and it was I who alerted the Queen to what Malec had done, shattering an unbreakable oath.\"\n\nSometime after Alastir left, the tub was filled with warm water, courtesy of Casteel, according to the two mortals—a younger man and woman with curious eyes. They didn't ask questions or linger longer than necessary and let me know that if I put my clothing and the nightgown in the wicker basket they'd placed outside the door, my clothes would be laundered." }, { "from": "human", "value": "While I'd hoped to see Casteel, I appreciated the gesture, and I was also relieved that he hadn't returned." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "I needed time to process…everything.\n\nSo, I made use of the bath, washing my hair, and then I slipped on the robe, tightening it around my waist. The sun was now high, but there was a chill in the room that wasn't present outside. I sat in front of the fire, slowly working the tangles free from my hair as my mind wandered from one utterly shocking topic to another." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Alastir had been Malec's bonded wolven?" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "And the Joining? My gods, would the people of Atlantia actually expect that of me—from the three of us? The heat of embarrassment almost drove me away from the fire. It wasn't that I was disgusted or repulsed. What people decided to do and with whom or how many was their business." }, { "from": "human", "value": "And the way Miss Willa had written about sharing herself with more than one partner was never discussed in a way that made me uncomfortable." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Well, that wasn't exactly true.\n\nMostly, I didn't understand how all of it worked. Not the physical aspect. She'd gone into quite a lot of detail regarding that." }, { "from": "human", "value": "But more so, it all sounded so very complicated." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "I just couldn't even wrap my head around something like that when everything with Casteel was already so damn convoluted.\n\nAnd why was I even concerning myself with this? Obviously, this was not something Casteel planned. But had he planned to do it with Shea?" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Stop it,\" I hissed, forcing my thoughts elsewhere." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Unsurprisingly, they came right back to him.\n\nWhat was a serious Casteel even like? Was that another mask he wore? I'd seen glimpses of that version of him whenever he asserted his authority, but he was so quick to tease and make light with me." }, { "from": "human", "value": "He's just more alive when he's with you." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Placing the brush on the floor, I closed my eyes and thought of Shea. Had he been that way with her? I doubted he'd donned any masks with her. Most likely, he had been an entirely different person then." }, { "from": "human", "value": "What'd happened to her?" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "All I knew was that the Ascended were involved in her fate. How did she die? How long were she and Casteel together? Did she love him, too?" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Of course, she did." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Even with little to no experience, I knew better than to travel down that road. I'd seen how Casteel reacted before, and while I might not have ever been in a relationship or loved, I knew people either wouldn't or couldn't talk about certain things. Things that could only be shared with those you loved, those you truly trusted.\n\nI think you're heartmates." }, { "from": "human", "value": "There was a snag in my chest as I bit down on my lower lip." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "After learning about the Joining, I knew Kieran was totally off-base on the whole heartmates thing, but I still wanted to travel that road with Casteel. I wanted to know about who he used to be before he lost Shea, lost his brother. And I wanted to know all of that because I…I cared about him. Because I'd never stopped falling." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Gods." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "I was in so much trouble.\n\nAnd there was a high likelihood that Alastir had realized what I had when we spoke. That Casteel hadn't trusted me with the knowledge of Spessa's End. Worse yet, there was no way he believed our engagement was real." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Sitting with my head tipped back and eyes closed was how Casteel found me when he walked into the room." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Impossibly, all thoughts I'd been wrapped up in vanished, replaced by what I made up my mind to do.\n\n\"What are you doing?\" he asked, and I heard the door close behind him.\n\n\"Brushing my hair.\" Straightening, I opened my eyes, but I didn't turn around." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Wouldn't you need the brush in your hand to do that?\" He sounded closer." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Yes.\" A hundred silver hawks fluttered in my chest.\n\nA moment later, he was sitting beside me, one knee bent and the other curled, resting against mine. Slowly, I looked over at him. The moment our gazes connected, the air whooshed out of my lungs." }, { "from": "human", "value": "I didn't know if it had to do with what Kieran had told me or everything else." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"I'm sorry,\" he said. \"I'm sorry about this morning—about losing control like that. It will never happen again.\"\n\nMy skin pimpled. His apology was unexpected, but I wasn't sure if I wanted it. What happened seemed mostly out of his control, and his apology…it made me respect him. I nodded." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"I planned on talking to you earlier than this. I came back after…well, I came back, and you were gone.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"I was with Kieran,\" I told him. \"We went down to the Bay and then had breakfast.\"\n\nA faint smile appeared. \"I heard.\"\n\nMy brows lifted. \"You did?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "He nodded. \"The people here told me.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "I didn't point out how the people here hadn't spoken to me during our brief encounter but felt the need to report to him that they had seen me.\n\n\"I came back to see if you had returned as soon as I could.\"\n\n\"It's okay.\" I swallowed. \"Thank you for the bath.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"I should be the one thanking you.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"For what?\"\n\n\"For knowing how to reach me this morning,\" he said, and heat raced across my face.\n\nI toyed with the end of the sash as I glanced at him. Words rose and died on the tip of my tongue." }, { "from": "human", "value": "He stared at the flames, the lines of his face nowhere near relaxed." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Something occurred to me then, in my desperation to not think about this morning. \"Whenever you introduce me to people, why are you so insistent that no one refers to me as the Maiden?\"\n\n\"That's an incredibly random question.\"\n\nIt was. \"I'm beginning to realize I'm an incredibly random person.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "The half-smile returned. \"I like it. Forces me to stay on my toes when I'm around you. But to answer your question, the less people think of you as the Maiden, the more they will think of you as the half-Atlantian who's captured my heart.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "There was an odd hollowness to his words, and when he looked at me, I noticed faint blue shadows under his eyes. \"And the less likely they will be to want to harm you.\"\n\nI nodded as I opened my senses to him. The connection was shockingly fast, and within a heartbeat, his hunger hit me—his hunger and his sadness, the latter more bitter than normal, and heavy—so damn heavy." }, { "from": "human", "value": "He hadn't felt that way earlier." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Was it because of what'd happened this morning or something else?\n\n\"It's also not who you are anymore,\" he added, and I pulled back my gift, realizing that closing it down had been easier since Casteel had given me his blood the second time. \"It's not who you ever were.\"\n\n\"No, it's not.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Did you ever accept it?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He planted a hand on the floor beside me and leaned over an inch or two. \"Was there ever a point where you wanted to be what they made you?\"\n\nI had never been asked that before, and it took me some time to figure out how to answer. \"There were times when I wanted to make the Queen happy—to make the Teermans pleased with me. So, I tried to be good—to be what was expected of me, but it was like…wearing a mask. I tried but the mask cracked quickly enough.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Forcing a warrior to don a veil of submission was never going to last.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Feeling my cheeks warm, I looked away. \"I don't know about the warrior part—\"\n\n\"I do,\" he insisted. \"From the moment you stayed instead of walking out of that room at the Red Pearl, I knew you had a warrior's strength and bravery. It's why you went to Rylan's funeral. It's what drove you out to the Rise when the Craven attacked and fought back—fought me. It's why you didn't bow under Alastir's remarks when you first met him but rather challenged his beliefs. Hell, it's what drove you to learn how to fight in the first place.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "A dimple appeared in his right cheek." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"It's your bloodline—it's you.\"\n\nThe warmth in my chest had little to do with the fire. \"I'm still a little annoyed that I'm not of the changeling line and I can't shift forms.\"\n\nCasteel laughed, and the sound was as real and sunny as my chest felt." }, { "from": "human", "value": "And when his gaze snagged on mine, I finally found the courage of the warrior he claimed I was." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "And started with perhaps the most embarrassing thing ever. \"I spoke with Alastir earlier.\"\n\n\"He mentioned that he was going to visit with you.\"\n\n\"He did, and he…he told me about the Joining.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Casteel's head swung toward mine so fast, I was surprised he didn't crack his neck. \"He did what?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Do I really need to repeat that?\"\n\n\"What did he tell you?\"\n\n\"He told me what it is.\" I focused on my brush." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"That it's a blood exchange that often turns into something, um, more intimate.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Good gods, he did not.\"\n\n\"He did.\"\n\n\"I…\" Casteel suddenly broke out into deep, thunderous laughter. The kind that was so loud and hard, it sounded like it hurt." }, { "from": "human", "value": "My wide gaze shot to him." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"I'm sorry,\" he gasped. \"It's just that I would've paid good money to see him try to explain that to you.\"\n\nI narrowed my eyes. \"Would you have?\"\n\n\"Hell, yes, I would've. Oh, gods.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Dragging a hand through his hair, he looked over at me." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Let me guess? He said it was crude and disgusting?\"\n\n\"Yeah. Pretty much.\"\n\n\"Gods, what an old alarmist.\" He laughed again, shoulders shaking." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"I wish I could've seen your face.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Well, since I learned about it from him, I wished I could've punched you in your face.\"\n\n\"I bet you did.\"\n\n\"I don't know what is so funny. He said people might expect it from us—especially because I'm not full-blooded Atlantian!\"\n\n\"First off,\" he said, struggling for breath, \"I don't think anyone is going to expect that.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "From you seemed to hang unsaid between us." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"And while it is an intimate ritual, one that isn't often done anymore, it is not always sexual. For some, I'm sure it becomes that naturally. And hey, to each their own. They're consenting adults, and you do you, you know? I'm not going to judge.\"\n\n\"I'm not judging either.\"\n\nHe cocked an eyebrow. \"You're not?\"\n\n\"I'm not,\" I insisted." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"So, you're interested then?\" he murmured." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"That is not where I was going with that.\"\n\n\"Uh-huh.\"\n\nI ignored the way he said that. \"Is it true that a mortal with Atlantian blood would be given a longer lifespan?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Casteel nodded." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Has that been done before?\"\n\n\"I haven't known any bonded elementals who have taken a mortal with Atlantian blood,\" he answered. \"As far as I know, there hasn't been. And it's a lot to ask of a wolven. That kind of blood bond goes both ways. If the wolven dies, so does the other, and if the mortal with Atlantian blood dies, the wolven would also.\"\n\n\"Oh.\" I blinked slowly." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Alastir didn't mention that.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Wait.\" He swung his head toward mine. \"Do you even know what could happen during that ritual that would make it so very crude—\"\n\n\"I know what could happen,\" I snapped.\n\n\"Is it because of that diary?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Shut up.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Did you bookmark the chapters detailing how Willa spent afternoons entertaining not one but two suitors, one in front and the other—?\"\n\n\"You seem to know a lot about that book.\"\n\n\"I love that fucking book,\" he said, and my jaw ached from how hard I was clenching it. \"So, you're interested then, Princess. What a wild side you have.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"That is not what I said!\" My cheeks flushed." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"I know.\" He chuckled. \"I'm sorry. I'm being an ass.\"\n\n\"At least you recognize it.\"\n\n\"I just…I was not expecting this. But you do have a very…adventurous personality.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"I hate you,\" I growled." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Not that adventurous, huh?\" Casteel laughed again. \"Look, I know you're not looking for this marriage to go beyond the necessary,\" he said, and that strange, stupid ache in my chest pulsed. \"So, it's not even something you need to worry about. But the Joining is meant to strengthen the bond that's already there, and ensure that the partner is also a part of that bond. It's not done lightly, and again, it is not always a sexual thing. I know it's been done where everyone kept their body parts to themselves.\"\n\nMy brows lifted. \"Then why did Alastir make it sound like it was a…\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"A dirty thing?\" He grinned." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Because he's old and overdramatic and thinks he's being helpful.\"\n\n\"Why—?\" I cut myself off before I could ask why he'd never brought it up. I already knew why. Just like I knew why he hadn't told me about Spessa's End." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"What?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "I shook my head, changing the subject. \"Alastir said he was Malec's bonded wolven.\"\n\n\"That he was. Did he tell you he told my mother that Malec had Ascended Isbeth?\" When I nodded, Casteel let his head fall back." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Alastir broke his oath, severing his bond. That has…well, that has rarely happened. Alastir can sometimes say too much, but he's a good man.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "I nodded slowly, watching him as he closed his eyes. \"Your mother didn't leave him then?\"\n\n\"No.\"\n\n\"Did she stay with him because she loved him?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"You know, I really don't know. She doesn't talk about him, but you have to wonder given she named her first son a name so similar,\" he said." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "I wondered how their father felt about that. \"When my mother confronted Malec, she did so privately, but what he'd done still got out. And others followed suit. In a way, it all happened so quickly.\"\n\n\"And here we are,\" I murmured.\n\n\"Here we are,\" he confirmed." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Drawing in a deep breath, I said what needed to be said." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"I know you need to feed. I know you're close to the edge, and you haven't fed from anyone else.\"\n\n\"Someone has been talking,\" he replied flatly. \"And I doubt it was Alastir.\"\n\n\"Someone needed to. What happens if you don't feed, other than the black eyes? If you do tip over the edge?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "I asked. \"You never really explained beyond it being a very bad thing.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He looked away, dragging his lip between his teeth. \"It's like being…dead inside, worse than an Ascended. We fall into bloodlust, but it's a violent madness, like that of a Craven. But we don't decay or rot.\" He shook his head. \"Once we tip over the edge, we grow stronger with each feeding, but it's like a disease of the mind because we become nothing more than rabid animals. Very few come back from that.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "I remembered what he said the Ascended did to him—withheld blood until he was ravenous." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Did the Ascended withhold blood from you often?\"\n\n\"There'd be years when they kept me well fed.\" The twist of his lips was a mockery of a smile. \"Then they'd give me enough so I didn't die, and sometimes, that wasn't enough.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Years." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Sorrow gripped my heart—for him, for his brother, and any other who was going through that. But mostly for Casteel because he knew exactly what his brother was facing. \"But you came back.\"\n\n\"There were times when I didn't think I would, Poppy.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "He stared into the flames, his voice barely audible." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"When I forgot how much time had passed. When I forgot who I was and what mattered to me. It was like parts of my brain had turned dark.\" He dragged a hand through his hair and then dropped it to his knee. \"But I came back. Not the same. Never the same. But I found parts of who I used to be.\"\n\nI swallowed against the knot in my throat. \"I'm—\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Don't say you're sorry.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He cut me a sharp look that would've stung my feelings before, but I understood it—understood him. Sympathy wasn't always wanted. \"You did nothing you should apologize for.\"\n\n\"You're right. I was going to say I'm glad you found yourself.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "A harsh laugh burst from him." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Truly, Poppy? Are you really?\"\n\n\"Yeah, I guess I am.\" I lifted a shoulder in a shrug. \"You may have come back as an asshole, but that's better than being lost in your own mind. I wouldn't wish that on anyone.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "The laugh that left him was softer, and it tugged at my lips." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"True.\" He dragged a hand down his face. \"Anyway, I know what it's like to be close to the edge. I've been past it. I'm fine.\"\n\n\"But you're not, Casteel.\"\n\nHis eyes widened slightly as he looked at me." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"What?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"It's just that you hardly say my name.\"\n\n\"Should I call you Your Highness?\"\n\n\"Gods,\" he choked out. \"No.\"\n\nI did grin a little at that, and he saw it and stared as if I'd just pulled off an amazing feat." }, { "from": "human", "value": "I had no idea why a grin from me would do that." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "I refocused on the task at hand. \"I felt it. I felt your hunger this morning,\" I told him. \"I know you're starving, and I know how that feels, at least to some extent. The Duke would forbid me food sometimes when he was angry. You need to feed.\"\n\n\"First off, knowing that the Duke did that, I want to kill him all over again. But secondly, blood wasn't the only thing I was starved for this morning.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "His eyes were heated honey." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"And I think you know that.\"\n\nMy pulse skittered, and my voice sounded raspier than normal when I said, \"If you won't do that—if you can't—then you need to take my blood.\"\n\nCasteel jerked back as if I'd smacked him. He rose to his feet in the next instant. \"Poppy—\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"You can't continue on this way.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "I stood, not nearly as gracefully as he had. \"What if you get injured again?\"\n\n\"I'll be fine.\" He took a step back from me. \"I told you. I won't lose control again.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"I don't think you have a choice in that, do you? It's just a part of who you are. You need Atlantian blood. You haven't fed from anyone else, so maybe you'll do it from me. It's not like you haven't bitten me before.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The angles of his face stood out in stark relief. \"I haven't forgotten that.\"\n\n\"Then this shouldn't be a big deal. You need blood. I have the blood. Let's get it over with.\"\n\nHe laughed, but it was without humor." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Get it over with? As if this will just be another business arrangement?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "I lifted my chin. \"If that's what it needs to be, then it will.\"\n\n\"So, you're okay with being that? Being the source of my strength, considering everything that I've done to you? Adding this to a long list of things you don't want to do but feel you need to?\"\n\n\"Well, when you put it that way…\" I threw up my hands in frustration." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Maybe I'd rather be the source of your sanity so I don't have to worry about you tearing into my neck between now and whenever this is over.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "His chest rose with a deep, shuddering breath as his shoulders bunched with tension.\n\n\"Can you really say that it won't happen again? Look me straight in the face and tell me you truly believe that you'll be able to stop next time,\" I demanded. When his nostrils flared and he said nothing, I knew the truth. And I knew I had to admit another truth, one that I wouldn't be able to take back." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"I felt your hunger, Casteel, and I don't need to do this. I stopped doing things I didn't want to do the moment I took off the damn veil. I want to help you. Because as stupid as this may make me, and only the gods know why, I care about you! So, yeah, I don't want to have my throat ripped open, and I also don't want to know that you're suffering for no reason.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Trembling and stomach twisting, I felt like I'd just stripped myself bare. \"There's probably something wrong with me—actually, there's definitely something wrong with me. Obviously. But if you—\" I forced the words out before they choked me. \"If you care about me at all, you won't want to put me at risk. You'll take what I'm offering with a thank you and stop acting like an idiot!\"\n\nCasteel stared at me, his brows raised, and then, after what felt like an eternity, his shoulders lowered." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"I'm so incredibly unworthy of you,\" he whispered, and I shivered, remembering the only other time he'd said that to me." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "It was the night I'd shared my body, my heart, and my soul with him. He lifted his head and seemed to take another breath. \"Okay.\"\n\nI exhaled slowly. \"Okay.\"\n\n\"On one condition,\" he said." } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Today you will be acting as a writing assistant, your partner will send something and you will write the next four sentences." }, { "from": "system", "value": "Produce a starting prompt please." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The sun was high above our heads, the breeze pleasant, and the sandy dirt and grass warm under my bare feet as I walked willingly toward him.\n\nHawke.\n\nThe Dark One.\n\nPrince Casteel Da'Neer." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Other people waited outside in the courtyard." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Jasper was there. Naill and Delano stood behind Casteel, to his left. Guardians were on the Rise, keeping watch, and Vonetta was behind me. But all I saw was Casteel.\n\nHe cut a striking figure in all black, possessing the wild and primal beauty that always reminded me of the cave cat I'd once seen." }, { "from": "human", "value": "He stood barefoot in the soil reclaimed by Atlantia." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "And I didn't think he saw anyone else as I walked forward. He stared at me with eyes luminous even in the sunlight, and an almost startled look etched upon his features as if he were utterly caught off guard. I'd seen that look before, especially when I smiled or laughed. He too seemed unaware of anyone else, even as Vonetta walked ahead and spoke to him." }, { "from": "human", "value": "He stared, even as he reached into his pocket and handed her something." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "And when I let my senses reach him, I felt what I always did from him, except the tartness of conflict was gone, and the chocolate and berries taste was far stronger.\n\nI couldn't take my eyes off him, not until Vonetta returned to my side and pressed something warm and metallic against my palm.\n\n\"The ring. For Casteel,\" she whispered. \"He had the blacksmith make them.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "I looked down at the gleaming, golden band." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "There was some sort of inscription on the inside, but I couldn't make out what it was.\n\nCurling my fingers around the band, I didn't remember how I got there, but suddenly, I was standing in front of Casteel. He stared at me like I imagined one would if they saw a god standing before them.\n\n\"You look…\" Casteel cleared his throat as the shadows of clouds drifted over the courtyard." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"You look beautiful, Poppy. Absolutely…\" His gaze roamed over me, from the braids in my hair, to the diamonds at my neck and then down the fitted bodice to the sheer layers of the skirt that rippled in the wind." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "A slow grin spread across his lips. The dimple in his right cheek appeared, and then the left. He dipped his head, his lips brushing against the shell of my ear as he spoke. \"Am I seeing things, or is that your dagger strapped to your thigh?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "I grinned. \"You're not seeing things.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"You're an absolutely stunning, murderous little creature,\" he murmured.\n\n\"There'll be time for all the sweet whispers later,\" Jasper said, and when Casteel pulled back, there was a fire in his eyes. \"You do look quite lovely, Penellaphe.\"\n\n\"Thank you,\" I said." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"What about me?\" Casteel asked, and behind him, Naill sighed." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"You look passable.\"\n\n\"That was rude,\" he replied.\n\n\"Would you like to go sit in the shade and nurse your wounded feelings? Like you did when you were young and inevitably injured yourself doing something incredibly stupid?\"\n\nCasteel's brows lowered as he looked over at Jasper." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"This marriage ceremony is starting off in a really weird way.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"True.\" The wolven chuckled. \"Let's get this started, because I'm sure you're more eager to finish the ceremony than you are to start it.\"\n\nCasteel shot the wolven a dark look, and I wondered exactly what that meant.\n\n\"I need both of you to face me,\" Jasper instructed, and then he waited until we did just that." }, { "from": "human", "value": "He smiled at me, and my emotions were too scattered to read his, but there was fondness in his gaze." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"I don't know how much you know about Atlantian marriages or how they differ from what is done is Solis, but I'll walk you through it, okay?\"\n\n\"Okay,\" I whispered.\n\n\"Good. It's pretty simple. There are no vows. None that are spoken, anyway,\" he continued as the clouds overhead cast us in shadows. He briefly glanced up at the sky, raising a brow." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Each of you holds your rings in your left hands and joins your right together.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Casteel held his right hand palm up as I looked over at him. There was no smile on his face then. Just a certain intent to the set of his lips and in his gaze. Pulse pounding, I placed my right hand in his." }, { "from": "human", "value": "The jolt traveled up my arm, and based on the slight widening of his eyes, I knew he felt it, too." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Lower to your knees. Casteel first,\" Jasper said, and he did just that. \"Now you, Penellaphe.\"\n\nCasteel's hand tightened on mine as I moved to my knees, our gazes remaining locked.\n\n\"Place your rings in the soil between you so that they overlap,\" Jasper said, and Casteel placed a golden band, one smaller than the one I held, on the sandy soil. I placed the larger one on top so the openings overlapped." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Casteel knew the next steps." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He didn't look away from me as he picked up the dirt and sprinkled it over the rings. He nodded, and I did the same, feeling the grainy dirt sift between my fingers as I repeated his actions.\n\nThick clouds gathered above us as Casteel whispered, \"This next part may hurt, but only for a few moments.\"\n\nTrusting him, I nodded." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Lift your left hands, palms up.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Jasper knelt before us, and with a brief glance, I saw that he held a dagger—one I'd never seen before. Like the swords the Guardians carried, the blade was gold. \"I will make a cut in each of your palms. It will hurt for a moment, and you will do with your blood what you did with the soil. The wound will heal at once, but you both will carry the mark until the union is ended by death or decree.\"\n\nI wasn't sure how a wound of mine would heal immediately." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"And that is all?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Usually, these proceedings are a bit more drawn-out, but this will be it. At least for the parts I'm involved in.\" A teasing glint filled Jasper's pale eyes. \"Casteel will have to fill you in on the rest.\"\n\n\"I will.\" Casteel gave me a quick grin. \"Gladly.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "A shiver broke out over my skin as I lifted my left hand, palm up." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Casteel did the same as he leaned over, crossing the distance between us. His lips brushed mine as he said, \"Just a moment of pain.\"\n\n\"I know,\" I whispered. \"I trust you.\"\n\nI heard the breath Casteel took, and I knew what that meant for me to say that, for him to hear it." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Unworthy,\" he whispered, and then he kissed me at the exact moment I felt the sharp sting of Jasper's dagger against my palm." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The kiss was as brief as the pain, but so much sweeter.\n\nCasteel withdrew, pressing our hands together, palm to palm. He threaded his fingers through mine as he guided our joined hands to the rings. Air hitched in my throat as I watched my blood—our blood—slide down our palms, to our wrists." }, { "from": "human", "value": "A drop and then two fell, splashing the rings." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Jasper was quiet as Casteel eased his hand from mine. He picked up the smaller ring, his right hand still clasping mine. \"I'll put the ring on you, and then you'll put the other ring on me.\"\n\nI nodded." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Turn your palm up to the sky,\" he said quietly." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "When I turned my hand over, my eyes widened.\n\nThe cut had closed, but across the center of my palm was a thin swirl of vibrant gold that shimmered even with the sunlight obscured by clouds. \"How…?\"\n\nCasteel grinned at me. \"Magic.\"\n\nIt had to be that." }, { "from": "human", "value": "My hand was surprisingly steady as he slipped the dirt-and blood-streaked ring over my pointer finger." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "It was a little loose, but I didn't believe it would slip off.\n\n\"Your turn.\"\n\nI picked up his and held my breath as I fitted it over his finger.\n\nAnd then I watched in stunned silence as the dirt and blood seeped into the rings." }, { "from": "human", "value": "The bands flared an intense gold and then faded, their surfaces now pristine." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"It is done,\" Jasper said, rising. \"You are husband and wife.\"\n\nThe day turned to night.\n\nMy lips parted as I looked up." }, { "from": "human", "value": "The gathering clouds had turned the sky the black of midnight, from the east to the west, to the south and north." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Not a single trace of sunlight could be seen, even though it couldn't be more than an hour or two past noon.\n\n\"My gods,\" Vonetta whispered.\n\nCasteel rose swiftly, bringing me with him. He pulled me to his side as he stared up at the black sky." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Is this an omen?\" I asked." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"It is,\" Jasper confirmed, his voice rough. \"I haven't seen anything like this since…Gods, since your mother and father married. And even then, Casteel, it wasn't like this.\"\n\nCasteel lowered his gaze to the wolven.\n\n\"This is an omen. A powerful one.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Jasper shook his head in wonder." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"A good one from the King of Gods.\" The unnatural clouds started to scatter, and sunlight broke through as Jasper smiled. \"Nyktos, even asleep, approves of this union.\"\n\nThe gold band glimmered in the sunlight cascading through the windows of our bedchamber." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Slowly, I turned my hand over." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The swirl of shimmering gold followed the line closest to my fingers. I dragged my thumb over the curling line. The heavy dusting of gold didn't disappear, and I…I couldn't believe I was married. That I'd gone from being Penellaphe Balfour, to the Maiden, and now, Penellaphe Da'Neer." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"I hope you're not already having second thoughts. But if so, it's not going to rub off.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "My head jerked up as Casteel strode out from the bathing chamber. \"I'm not trying to rub it off.\" I watched him walk around the bed, my heart already tripping in my chest. \"And I'm not having second thoughts. I just don't understand how this is possible—the gold on my hand. How the blood and dirt just…sank into the rings and disappeared.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"When I said it was magic, I was only half teasing.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He sat beside me, taking my hand. The contact sent a jolt of awareness through me. \"It's the gods. Their magic.\" He ran his finger along the mark." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"And this is like a tattoo but goes deeper than ink. All married Atlantians have this imprint until their marriage ends.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Through death or decree?\"\n\nDark waves tumbled over his forehead as he nodded. \"The mark will then disappear.\"\n\nThat would be a terrible way to discover that someone died. I shivered." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Casteel's gaze lifted to mine." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Did you not believe in the gods at all?\"\n\nI started to say yes, that I did, but it was more complicated than that. \"I believed what I'd been taught about the gods by the Ascended. The only magic was the Blessing. Other than that, they were like…silent sentinels who watched over us, and that it was our duty to serve them through the Rite.\" I laughed—laughed at myself." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Now when I say that out loud, I recognize how ridiculous it sounds. How blind I'd been.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"It only sounds that way to someone taught differently from birth.\"\n\n\"We thought their magic was the Ascension. That the Ascended were proof of that power,\" I said as Casteel trailed his fingers to the ring around my pointer finger. I realized something. \"It surprised me when you placed the ring on my pointer finger. In Solis, the ring is worn on the fourth finger, but the line the imprint is on is closest to the pointer finger.\"\n\n\"Clever girl,\" he murmured, brushing back the strands of hair that had fallen over my shoulder." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"The line in your palm is believed to be the one connected to your heart. That is why the imprint is made there.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"It's sort of beautiful,\" I admitted.\n\n\"It is,\" he said, and I could feel his gaze on me. My breath caught. \"I don't know about you, but I'm feeling all kinds of special,\" he added as he skimmed his fingers over the back of my neck and then the delicate chains of the necklace. \"It has been several hundred years since Nyktos has made his approval of a union known.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "My pulse skipped. \"Not since your parents.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"So I've heard. My father would boast about it. Tell any who listened that the day turned to night when the ceremony was completed. I don't think Malik or I believed him, but he wasn't lying.\"\n\n\"And Nyktos hasn't done that for anyone since then?\"\n\n\"Apparently, not. That is good news, Poppy.\"\n\n\"Unlike the Blood Forest tree that appeared in New Haven?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"We don't know if that was good or bad,\" he replied." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"We just know it was really weird.\"\n\nI laughed, unable to help myself, and it felt good to do that. To not fight a laugh or a smile, and to be happy.\n\nThat look crossed Casteel's features again." }, { "from": "human", "value": "The one he wore when I approached him before the ceremony." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The one he wore every time he heard me laugh or smile. \"Why?\" Curiosity filled me. \"Why do you look like that when I laugh? Or smile?\"\n\n\"Because it's a beautiful sound and smile and you don't do it nearly enough.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "A slight flush crept across his cheeks as he looked at my hand." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"And every time I hear it, it feels like I've heard it before—and I mean, like before I even met you. Like deja vu but different.\"\n\nThat made me think of what Kieran had shared. \"What does heartmates mean?\" I blurted out.\n\nCasteel's gaze returned to mine." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"How have you heard of heartmates but not the marriage imprint?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Well…\" I drew out the word. \"You see, you have this bonded wolven that often says very vague, mostly unhelpful things.\"\n\nHe laughed at that. \"He does, doesn't he? He spoke to you about heartmates? When?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"A few days ago.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "What felt like an eternity ago. \"He said he thought we were heartmates, and I thought he was crazy. He didn't tell me what it meant other than something about it being more powerful than bloodlines and gods.\"\n\n\"That was vague.\" A smile played across his lips. It was a tired expression, but real." }, { "from": "human", "value": "I saw a hint of both dimples." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Heartmates is…it's almost more of a legend than Nyktos giving his approval for a union. Not fable, but so rare that it has become myth.\" He toyed with a diamond teardrop as his lashes lowered. \"It started at the beginning of recorded time, when one of the ancient deities fell so deeply in love with a mortal that he pleaded for the gods to bestow the gift of long life on the one he chose. They refused, even though he was one of their favorite children. And they refused each and every year, as the one he loved grew older, and he remained the same. Then, when his lover was old and gray, the body no longer able to support life, his lover left to join Rhain, where not even he could travel. Heartbroken, the deity did not eat or drink, and it didn't matter that the gods pleaded with him. Even Nyktos himself came to this land and begged him to live. He told him that he couldn't, not when a piece of his soul had left him when his lover died. It was a piece he would never get back, and without it, he had no will. Eventually, he became dust.\"\n\n\"That's…that's really sad.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Some say all great love stories are.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Some people are stupid.\"\n\nHe laughed again. \"But I'm not finished. The gods realized their mistake. That they had underestimated the capacity for love—of two souls and two hearts that were somehow meant to be joined. They were heartmates. The gods knew they could not bring their child or his lover back, but when it happened again, with another of their children, an ancient daughter who'd had many lovers come and go throughout the years, they relented. When she came to them to ask that her mortal lover be given the gift of life, they agreed, but on two conditions. Both were presented with nearly impossible trials designed to prove their love. If they succeeded, the deity had to agree to be the source of her lover's life. Her lover would need to drink from her to remain by her side. Of course, she agreed, and they completed their trials. They would do anything for the other half of their souls and hearts.\"\n\nMy eyes widened as understanding swept through me. \"Her lover was the first Atlantian.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "He nodded. \"Yes, the elemental line. It happened again and again throughout the centuries. An ancient deity would find their heartmate in a wolven, and they'd complete their trials to prove their love. Some believed that was how the changelings and other bloodlines began. Or, an Atlantian would find their heartmate in a mortal, therefore creating another line once the gods gifted them with life. That kind of love was rare—is still rare. When acknowledged by both, it's the type that means they would do anything for each other, even die. And heartmates have always been linked to those who have created something new or ushered in great change. It is said that King Malec and Isbeth were heartmates.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"But if they were heartmates, then why didn't the gods offer the trials and then grant her the same gift of life they did for the other heartmates?\"\n\n\"If they had, then the first vampry wouldn't have been created, and the world…the world would be a vastly different place.\" Casteel followed the direction of my thoughts. \"But creating life is complex and full of unknowns, even for the gods. They never foresaw Malec being inventive enough to drain Isbeth of her blood and replace it with his in his desperation to save her. But the problem was, they'd already gone to sleep by then and were too deep in their slumber to hear Malec's pleas.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Gods,\" I whispered. \"That is sort of tragic. I mean, his actions started…all of this. And yes, he was already married, but it's still tragic.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"It is.\"\n\n\"And the gods are still asleep, unable to offer the trials and grant those gifts now.\"\n\n\"But not too deep asleep to not be aware of what is happening,\" he said. \"Do you no longer think what Kieran said is so crazy?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "My heart flip-flopped. \"I…I don't know. What about you?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "A smile full of secrets appeared. \"I don't know either.\"\n\nMy eyes started to narrow, but then something occurred to me. \"Wait. There's something I don't understand. Malec was a descendent of the ancient deities, right?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Right.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Then how did he turn Isbeth into a vampry? The other deities—when their heartmates were given their blood, they weren't turned into vamprys.\"\n\n\"That's because the others were not drained of blood. They were given the gift of life by the gods,\" he explained. \"The transformation is not the same.\"\n\n\"Sort of like one is sanctioned by the gods and the other isn't?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Sort of.\" He shifted closer, dropping his hand to rest on the bed beside my hip." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "His head lowered slightly, and I allowed myself to read him.\n\nHe was feeling a lot of things, one of them I rarely felt from him. It reminded me of what it felt like to sneak into the city Atheneum and find an interesting book, or when I watched the night-blooming roses open. Times when I was content." }, { "from": "human", "value": "He was content. He was also wary, and I thought that was for what could come tonight." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "And he was…he was so very tired.\n\n\"You still haven't slept. You need to sleep.\" I started to reach for him, but stopped, unsure of myself. We were married now." }, { "from": "human", "value": "More importantly, it was real—this was real, what we felt for each other." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"The Ascended could be here tonight.\"\n\n\"I know.\" He lifted his head. \"I will rest, but there is something else I want to do.\"\n\nMy chest got suddenly tight as my mind went in a completely inappropriate direction." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"We are married. It's official, except for the crowning, but there is another tradition.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "My throat dried. \"The Joining?\"\n\nHe blinked once and then twice. \"I'm trying very hard not to laugh.\"\n\n\"What? That is a tradition, right? I asked Vonetta about it—\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Oh, my gods.\" He dragged his hand down his face." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"And she said—\"\n\n\"It's not about that,\" he cut in. \"It's about us. Just you and me, and the tradition of sharing ourselves with one another.\"\n\n\"Oh,\" I whispered, and now my mind was happily playing around in a very inappropriate place. \"Like…sex?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "He stared at me." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"I really enjoy the way your mind works, but that's not exactly what I was talking about.\"\n\n\"Well.\" My face heated. \"This is awkward.\"\n\nCasteel laughed as he cupped my cheek. \"Don't feel awkward. I meant it when I said I love the way your mind works. But it's a tradition for a couple to share blood after a wedding. It's not required. Like I said, it's merely tradition, one meant to strengthen the bonds of marriage. Not doing it doesn't change anything—\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"But doing it changes what?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"It…it's an act of trust.\" His hand slid from my face. \"It's a pledge to share everything. It's mostly symbolic.\"\n\nMy heart was pounding again, and the bodice of the dress suddenly felt too tight." }, { "from": "human", "value": "It was clear that this was something he wanted, even if it was only symbolic." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Possibly even something he'd once envisioned himself doing with Shea before…well, before. I felt a surge of anger and pity for a woman who'd been dead for more years than I'd been alive, but it still took a lot for me to push those feelings aside.\n\n\"And I know the idea of drinking blood isn't exactly appetizing to you. So, I understand if you don't—\"\n\n\"I do.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "He leaned back, his eyes turning bright." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Is it because you want to or because I'm asking.\"\n\n\"How often have I done things you've wanted, but I haven't?\"\n\nHe laughed. \"Good point.\" The humor faded from his eyes, replaced by a devouring sort of intensity." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"If you're sure. One hundred percent sure?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"I am.\"\n\n\"Thank fuck.\" He started to reach for me but drew up short. \"We need to take off that dress. Netta will have my ass if I return it to her wrinkled.\" His gaze lifted to mine." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"And I have a feeling it's going to get very wrinkled.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "So did I.\n\nPulse thrumming, I stood and reached for one strap. Casteel followed, taking hold of the other. \"Are there buttons?\"\n\nI shook my head." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Thank the gods again,\" he murmured as he dragged the strap free of my arm." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Because I would likely just give up and tear the thing.\"\n\n\"You usually have better patience than that.\" The dress gathered at my hips.\n\n\"Sometimes.\" Eyeing the slip, he helped me step out of the gown." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"But not when it comes to you.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"I don't think that's true,\" I said as he started to toss the gown. I stopped him. \"I'll take that.\"\n\nHis lips pursed as I laid the gown on the chaise. He waited for me at the corner of the bed." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"I really have a thing for you and little ridiculous straps.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He reached out, placing his hands on my ribs. He pulled the material taut against me. \"And your breasts, but they are not ridiculous or little. Regardless, I have a thing for them, too.\"\n\n\"Thank you?\" I said as he walked around me, sliding his hand across my stomach." }, { "from": "human", "value": "He laughed, and the sound was part relief and part need." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "I didn't need my abilities to know that. I started to reach for the clasp on the necklace.\n\n\"Leave it.\" He glanced down. \"And the dagger.\"\n\nMy brows raised. \"Seriously?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"When will you realize I speak the truth?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The tilt of his lips was wicked. \"It turns me on when you're armed with something sharp.\"\n\n\"There's something so entirely wrong with you.\"\n\nHe came around to my front." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"But you like what's wrong with me.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"There is something wrong with me, too.\" I looked up at him. \"Because I do.\"\n\n\"I know.\" He touched my cheek. \"I've always known you like that I enjoy when you make me bleed.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Casteel kissed me and it felt like the first time our lips had ever touched." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "In a way, it was a first kiss, and Casteel and I had more than one first. With each truth, each change, it was like starting all over again but with all the experience and memories. And kissing Casteel was like daring to kiss the sun. I placed my hands against his chest, feeling the warmth of his skin through his shirt and this—all of this—was another first, because I kissed without once worrying if I should, without wondering if I would regret it." }, { "from": "human", "value": "I kissed with abandon, and there was a freedom in that I had never known before." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He pulled me against him, one arm around my waist as his mouth trailed over the curve of my jaw and then down my throat. I tensed with wicked anticipation.\n\n\"There are other places, you know? Where I can drink from you.\"\n\n\"Like where?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Places that are far more sensitive than the neck.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He dragged his hand down my shoulder, cupping my breast through the slip. His thumb found the aching peak. \"Like here for example. Would you like that? Don't answer yet. There are other places even more sensitive. More interesting.\" He moved again, over the curve of my hip and lower still." }, { "from": "human", "value": "He gathered up the silk. \"Lift your arms.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "I stretched my arms above my head, shivering as his clothing brushed my newly bared skin.\n\nThe slip landed on the floor, and then his hand was at my hip again. My thigh. I closed my eyes as I felt his lips at my neck.\n\nHis fingers trailed along my thigh, the ring around his finger cool against my skin." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"There's a vein there, right along your leg, with all these little veins branching off. I'm thinking you'd really like that.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "I shuddered. \"Will you do that now?\"\n\n\"I would, except I'm feeling incredibly archaic right now, and I want the world to see my fresh mark on your throat,\" he said. \"And if the whole world saw that mark between your pretty thighs, I'd have to then kill the whole world.\"\n\n\"That's excessive.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"I feel excessive, Princess. There's another place, one that won't supply that much blood, but I think it will be your favorite.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "His hand cupped me then, between the legs, and his thumb pressed against the bundle of nerves, driving me to the tips of my toes. \"Right there. I could taste you and feed from you at the same time.\"\n\nA sharp curl of pleasure twisted through me. \"Sounds indecent.\"\n\n\"Extremely indecent,\" he agreed." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"You don't have to choose. Later, because there will be a later,\" he promised, and my chest squeezed, \"we'll try every single one of those places, and you can tell me which is your favorite. What do you think about that?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"I think…\" A breathy moan escaped as his finger slid inside me. \"I'm going to enjoy being very indecent.\"\n\n\"I can tell.\" He chuckled against my skin as he moved me backward, his finger moving slowly, shallowly. He guided me onto my back and then withdrew from me." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Both of us will.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "As he moved from the bed, he slowed to kiss the scars along my stomach and then those on my legs. Then he stepped back, standing above me. I was completely on display, wearing nothing but the necklace and the dagger. Shyness crept into me, but I didn't move to hide anything from him." }, { "from": "human", "value": "I let him look his fill." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Beautiful. I want you to know that. You're beautiful. Every inch of you.\"\n\nLike before, I couldn't help but feel that way when he looked at me like that.\n\nHis hands dropped to the flap of buttons on his pants. \"Watch me.\"\n\nI watched him undress as I'd done in the cavern." }, { "from": "human", "value": "If he thought every inch of me was beautiful, then he hadn't looked in a mirror." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "All that sun-kissed skin and lean muscle. His scars weren't flaws. Not even the brand. They were a map of his strength, of what he'd overcome and a reminder that he'd found pieces of himself." }, { "from": "human", "value": "It struck me then how he could find my skin so flawless." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He saw what I saw when I looked at him.\n\nAnd he had since he first saw me without the veil.\n\nEmotion clogged my throat, and I was half-afraid I'd start crying, but then he moved to me. The hard length of his body came over mine." }, { "from": "human", "value": "My senses were nearly overwhelmed by the coarse hair of his legs against my skin, the weight and warmth of his body as he settled between my thighs, the feel of his chest brushing mine, and the hardness pressing at the softest part of me." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He curled his hand in my hair, tipping my head back. \"You have no idea how long I've waited to do this. To be inside you as I take a part of you inside me. To feel you come around my cock while I taste your blood on my tongue. It feels like forever.\"\n\nA shudder wracked my body as I drew my legs up over his. He gasped as the motion brought him closer." }, { "from": "human", "value": "I wrapped my legs around his hips and lifted mine." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "We both made a sound then as he entered me just enough to send a wave of shivers up my spine. Casteel's head dropped to my throat as his fingers tightened in my hair.\n\n\"Then why wait any longer?\" I asked.\n\nHe didn't." }, { "from": "human", "value": "His fangs pierced my skin at the same moment he thrust forward." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "I cried out, caught between acute pain and keen pleasure. I couldn't breathe or move, even as his mouth closed over the punctures, and he drew deeply, his hips rolling against mine.\n\nAnd then there was no more pain. Just pounding, relentless pleasure that erupted from deep inside me, and he got what he'd wanted at the start." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Release powered through me as I gripped his shoulders, breathed his name as he drank from me and moved inside me, and then—" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "His hand was at my thigh. He lifted his mouth from my neck, his lips glossy and red. He held the dagger, and in a daze, I watched him drag the blade over his chest. Just an inch or two. Blood welled." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Drink,\" he gasped, lifting my head to his pectoral." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Drink from me, Poppy.\"\n\nIt had to be his bite and the feeling of him inside me, of my body tightening around him. There was no hesitation. I kissed the cut, and my mouth tingled as blood touched my lips, my tongue." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Warm and thick, it coated my mouth." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "I swallowed the decadent, lush taste of him.\n\n\"Gods.\" Casteel shuddered as he held me there, folding his other arm under my shoulder.\n\nThere was a burst of vivid colors—blues and purples. Lilacs. Was that the sweet taste of his blood? Was it more?" }, { "from": "human", "value": "There was a sound in my ears suddenly, a trickle of water—" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Casteel started to move again. His blood…it was pure sin and addictive as I imagined the flower my nickname was derived from was. I could drown in it, in the sensations he elicited from me. When he pulled my head back, I started to protest, but then his mouth was on mine, and we were both lost." }, { "from": "human", "value": "There was no sense of rhythm or pace." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "We were frenzied. The effects of his blood and bite and my blood became madness. Tension built again, coiling deeply, stroking tighter with every deep, plunging thrust of our hips. The pressure spun until it whipped out, rocking me to my core again, and he was right there with me, toppling over the edge and falling and falling.\n\nAnd he didn't stop." }, { "from": "human", "value": "He kept moving over me, in me, his mouth gliding over mine." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He took me, and I seized him. We were a tangle of legs and arms, of flesh and fire, and the build was slower. Everything was slower as we took our time, acting as if we had all the time in the world, even though we didn't. And when we were finally spent, we didn't let go of each other." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Not even as he finally drifted to sleep, his arms still tight around me." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Not even when I joined him, my cheek resting upon the place I'd once thrust a dagger into.\n\nAnd that was how we woke hours later, after the sun had set, to the long trill of a songbird. A call that was answered.\n\nA signal." }, { "from": "human", "value": "I sat up, staring into the darkness beyond the terrace doors." }, { "from": "system", "value": "Next message should be approximately 1 sentence." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Casteel's chest pressed to my back a moment before he kissed my shoulder. \"They're here.\"" } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Hey can you write like Jennifer L. Armentrout and use whatever i write as a jumping off point?" }, { "from": "system", "value": "Produce a starting prompt please." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The field I'd seen the Guardians training in was littered with cots occupied by the injured and the dead. Most were mortal. Twenty Descenters or those of Atlantian descent that had settled in Spessa's End had perished. At least fifty of Atlantian descent who'd arrived with the army had died, and double that occupied the cots. A dozen or so wolven were injured beyond their capabilities to heal themselves." }, { "from": "human", "value": "The elemental Atlantians that had made up the vast majority of the army had healed themselves." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "None of the Guardians had fallen, and only a few were among the injured.\n\nThe Atlantian army had been successful, though, even with the casualties. They'd seized control by the time Casteel and I stepped out of the carriage to find Kieran and several Atlantian warriors standing guard.\n\nI couldn't even muster an ounce of embarrassment at the knowledge that some realized what had happened inside the carriage." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Only one soldier in the entirety of the Solis army had been left alive." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Casteel and a few others had left hours ago, escorting a young boy barely beyond the cusp of manhood to the scorched land of Pompay, charged with the task of relaying a warning.\n\nAnd a message.\n\nAtlantia had reclaimed Spessa's End, and any who came for the town would meet the same fate as those before them. The message was also an opportunity." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Casteel had initiated a part of his original plan." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The Battle of Spessa's End didn't have to be the first of many to come. The Prince and Princess of Atlantia were willing to meet with the King and Queen of Solis to discuss the kingdoms' futures.\n\nI didn't envy the boy who was tasked with delivering the message.\n\nAnd I didn't envy any of the family and friends of those who had lost loved ones." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Each time I saw someone I knew standing, I'd been overcome with relief." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Thank you,\" a raspy voice drew my attention. An older wolven had taken a nasty blow to the arm, nearly severing it. He was the last one to be checked. I'd healed him. Like I'd healed all of those who'd allowed me to try." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Some had refused my touch, like those in New Haven had." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "My chest squeezed painfully as Elijah's image took form in my mind.\n\nI cleared my throat. \"You're welcome.\" Back and arms aching, I started to rise. \"I don't know if your arm is completely healed, so you should have a Healer look at it as soon as possible.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "The wolven caught my left arm before I could move." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "His eyes widened slightly at the contact, and I wondered if he'd felt the strange, electric-like current that others had when he touched me. He slowly turned my hand over. \"It's true, then?\" he asked, looking at the golden swirl across my palm. \"You've married our Prince?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "I nodded as my heart skipped." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "This middle-aged wolven, with his head of ropey black-and-silver dreads had been the first to ask.\n\n\"Others are saying you fought beside him the entire battle.\"\n\n\"I started on the Rise, but I did go down.\"\n\n\"And yet, you're here. You've been here this whole time, healing others,\" he said, his pale eyes sharp. \"With your touch.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"How could I not when I can help?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "And I had helped. Talia the Healer I'd caught a brief glimpse of, had her hands full with those who refused my aid. So, after the battle, I had taken the time to wash the blood from my face and hands, even though it was still caked to my clothing and dried under my fingernails.\n\nHe nodded as he let go of my wrist and laid his head back on the cot." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Kieran said you were of the empath bloodline.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "I nodded again.\n\n\"I've never seen an empath glow silver before,\" he said. \"And I remember them. I was a young boy then, and there was only a handful still alive, but I'd remember something like that.\"\n\nWondering how old this wolven was, I said, \"Jasper said the same.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Not surprised to hear that." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He knows things,\" the wolven said. \"Except when to keep his mouth closed.\n\nI smiled wearily. \"That's what I hear.\"\n\n\"You must be descended from an old empath line.\"\n\n\"What else could I be?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "I asked, not really expecting an answer." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Yes,\" he murmured. \"What else?\"\n\nI looked over my shoulder, spotting Quentyn and Beckett moving among the injured and recovering. \"Water and food are being brought. Is there anything else you need?\"\n\n\"No.\" The wolven eyed me as I stood." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"But you should be careful, Princess.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "I stilled.\n\n\"I've watched the others watching you. Our Prince may have chosen you. You may have fought beside him and for them. You may have healed many of us,\" he said with a voice full of gravel. \"But they didn't choose you, and many aren't old enough to even remember the empath bloodlines. Those who are, remember what they could do—what they were called.\"\n\n\"Soul Eaters? I can't do that,\" I said, even as my heart started pumping." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"I can't drain a person of emotion.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"But they don't know that.\" His gaze shifted to the cots. \"Is there someone here? To watch over you?\" He started to sit up." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"You shouldn't be out here alone with the Prince—\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"I'm fine.\" Gently, I pressed him onto his back. \"I'm armed and can take care of myself.\"\n\n\"I don't doubt that, but—\" His features tightened, almost as if he were in pain, but I knew he wasn't. \"I shouldn't say this. It's damn near treasonous, but you healed me. I owe you.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"You don't owe me.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"It would've taken days, maybe even longer for me to heal that wound, and that is if I kept my arm. I'm a wolven, Princess. That does not mean I can grow back limbs.\"\n\nI glanced at the pale pink mark that nearly encircled the entirety of his biceps. The gods had to have favored him to keep that limb attached after that kind of injury.\n\n\"It's pretty well known among the armies that once the King knew of the Prince's plans to capture you, he began to make his own plans. I doubt he knows how much the Prince's plans have changed, but his have not.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "A heaviness sat on my shoulders." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"He plans to use me to send a message. I doubt I would be a message that was alive and breathing,\" I said. \"I know.\"\n\n\"Then you should also know that Casteel is our Prince,\" the wolven said in a low voice. \"But Valyn, his father, is our King.\"\n\n\"I know,\" I repeated, fixing a smile on my face." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Do you?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The heaviness intensified as I nodded again. \"You should rest. At least until Talia can confirm you're healed.\"\n\nThe older wolven relented, unhappily, but with one last goodbye, I roamed the edges of the makeshift infirmary, scanning the field and the banners embossed with the Atlantian Crest.\n\nI could feel eyes on me." }, { "from": "human", "value": "I'd felt them the entire time I moved through the field." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "But with all the pain that had been echoing around me, I hadn't allowed myself to sense anything beyond the agony.\n\nBut they didn't choose you.\n\nI flinched as the wolven's words played over and over in my head as I turned away from the field.\n\nWhat the wolven had said about the King and the veiled warning hinting at where the Atlantian people's loyalty lay didn't come as much of a shock." }, { "from": "human", "value": "In the back of my mind, I'd already figured as much, hadn't I?" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "And that was before they heard Duchess Teerman's ridiculous claims that I was Queen Ileana's granddaughter. The Queen was an Ascended. I was not of her blood nor born of flesh and fire—whatever that meant.\n\nBut I wasn't like other empaths, and even so, that bloodline sounded more feared than respected." }, { "from": "human", "value": "I knew I wouldn't have many supporters in Atlantia." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "I barely had them here.\n\nCasteel was the Prince of Atlantia, well-loved and respected. That much was obvious. But not a single person spoke ill of his father or mother, and I knew they were just as loved as he was." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Casteel was the Prince, but his father was the King, and if he wanted me dead to send a message, his people would follow his lead." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "I didn't know if a ring or marriage imprint would change that when me fighting and killing to protect the people of Atlantia hadn't.\n\nAnd Casteel…he had to know that. He always had to know that.\n\nSitting in the tub of warm soapy water, I had my arms locked around my legs, my knees pressed to my chest and my eyes closed." }, { "from": "human", "value": "I recalled the warm sand under my feet, and the weight of my mother's and father's hands in mine." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "I remembered how easy Ian's smile was as he ran ahead, and the sound of my mother's laugh and the way my father stared at her like…\n\nLike it was the most beautiful sound he'd ever heard.\n\nThe corners of my lips curved up. Thinking of those moments had eased the coldness that returned when I walked back to the fortress." }, { "from": "human", "value": "What the Duchess had said and thoughts of Tawny haunted me, just like I knew they would." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Along with worries about the King's plans and the loyalty of the Atlantian people.\n\nI opened my eyes at the soft click of the bathing chamber door. The scent of rich, earthy spice, and crisp pine enveloped the soap's lemony scent as Casteel knelt beside me. The strands of his hair were damp, and the clothing he wore was clean and free of blood." }, { "from": "human", "value": "When and where he'd cleaned up, I had no idea." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "I hadn't seen him since he left with the young Solis soldier.\n\n\"Hey,\" he said quietly, his gaze roaming over my face, lingering on a bruise I'd gained in the battle.\n\n\"Hi,\" I whispered.\n\nOne side of his lips curled up, and I felt my cheeks warm." }, { "from": "human", "value": "I cleared my throat." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Is everything okay? With the soldier?\"\n\nHe nodded. \"He's on his way to Whitebridge.\" Reaching over, he gathered up several strands of my wet hair and draped it over my shoulder. He bared the bite mark on my throat, and I swore his grin deepened." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"I hear I owe you a thank you.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "I held my legs tighter. \"For what?\"\n\n\"You spent the entire day healing those you could and easing the pain of those you couldn't.\" Those twin amber jewels met mine. \"Thank you.\"\n\nI swallowed. \"I only did what I could—what anyone with my abilities would do.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "At least, that's what I hoped." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Some of them wouldn't let me.\"\n\nHis fingers trailed over the damp skin of my back. \"Some of them are idiots.\"\n\n\"They are your people.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Our people,\" he corrected softly." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "My breath caught, and a bit of panic and unease sparked at the realization that they were my people whether they liked it or not. \"I'm…I'm sorry about Elijah and all of them. I liked him, and Magda was nice. But they…they were your friends.\"\n\nHis lashes lowered as he exhaled raggedly. \"I've known Elijah since he was a boy, and I know how crazy that sounds since I look younger than him. He knew the risks, and I know he fought back. I know all of them did, but he didn't deserve that. None of them did.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"No, they didn't,\" I agreed softly." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"I should've made them all leave. Risked drawing the attention. I should've—\"\n\n\"You did what you could. Some of those people couldn't travel because of their injuries, and none of them were ready to leave immediately,\" I argued. \"What happened there isn't your fault.\"\n\nCasteel said nothing." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"You know that, right? That was the Ascended. They are responsible. Not you.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He nodded slowly. \"I know that.\"\n\n\"Do you?\"\n\nSwallowing, he nodded, and I wasn't sure if that was the case. \"I was told something odd earlier, when I returned to Spessa's End.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"I'm half afraid to ask.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "There was a brief grin. \"You remember when the wolven showed up during the battle?\"\n\n\"How could I forget that?\"\n\n\"Glad you haven't because that was when you had a knife to your throat—\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"I was trying to save you and the people,\" I reminded him." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"We've already covered this.\"\n\n\"We did, but Kieran told me that he heard you calling him. He said the other wolven felt it, too. That they all veered in our direction. Jasper confirmed it,\" he said. \"He said the same thing.\"\n\n\"I didn't. I mean, how?\" I swallowed. \"I was obviously feeling a lot in that moment." }, { "from": "human", "value": "I felt like, I don't know, like I was about to lose control." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "But how is that even possible?\n\n\"I don't know, Poppy. I've never seen anything like that. I don't know how they could've picked up anything from you.\" He tugged on a strand of my wet hair and draped it over my bare shoulder. \"Neither do they. I asked them when they came by just now. Both said they felt you calling for them—calling for help.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Goosebumps broke out over my skin." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Delano. Oh, my gods….\"\n\n\"What?\"\n\n\"When we were in New Haven and I was kept in the room, he burst inside at one point, swearing he heard me calling for him. But I hadn't.\"\n\nCasteel's brows slashed over his eyes." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Did something happen at that time? Because if so and I wasn't told about it—\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Nothing happened. I was mad—mad at you, because I was locked in the room,\" I explained. \"He then said it must've been the wind, and it was windy then, so I forgot about it.\"\n\nCasteel lifted another strand of hair. \"That's bizarre.\"\n\nI stared at him." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"That's all you have to say to them feeling my call? That's bizarre?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Well, the definition of bizarre is something strange and unusual—\"\n\n\"I know what bizarre means,\" I interrupted. \"Is that another empath trait manifesting?\"\n\nHis gaze met mine." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"I've never heard of an empath being able to do that.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "My stomach dipped. \"Just like glowing silver and being able to heal—\"\n\n\"You could be of two bloodlines,\" he cut in. \"We talked about that before. It could be possible.\"\n\nMore possible than Queen Ileana being my grandmother." }, { "from": "human", "value": "I had no idea what to think of the whole hearing my call thing, but what if that was an empath ability?" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "People could project their pain and fear. What if that was what I was doing, and the wolven, for some reason, picked up on it? That seemed like it made logical sense.\n\n\"What do we do now?\" I asked." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Right now? At this very moment?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "His smile was smoke as his gaze traveled over the bare skin he could see, which wasn't any of the interesting parts. \"I have so many ideas.\"\n\n\"That's not what I was talking about,\" I said, even though I was glad to see the somberness leave his eyes.\n\n\"I know, but I'm distracted. It's not my fault. You're naked.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"You can't see anything.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"What I can see is enough.\" He lowered himself to his knees as he rested his arms on the edge of the tub. \"So, I'm thoroughly distracted.\"\n\n\"You being distracted sounds like your problem and not mine,\" I told him." }, { "from": "human", "value": "He chuckled as he bent his head, kissing the patch of my knee that wasn't covered by my arms." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"We'll leave for Atlantia tomorrow. The Atlantian armies that arrived will remain behind just in case the Ascended want to make a very bad life choice. Spessa's End will be protected.\"\n\nThere was a whooshing sensation in my chest. \"So soon?\"\n\n\"We would've already been there if things had gone as planned.\" He leaned back. \"We are married, but you haven't been crowned yet. That needs to happen.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "I worried my lower lip." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"I get that the crowning makes things official, but what will that really change? Your…\" I briefly closed my eyes. \"Our people still don't trust me or like me. Whatever. And your father still has his plans, right? For me?\"\n\nHis brows lowered. \"My father's plans have changed.\"\n\n\"What if they haven't?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "He studied me for a moment." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Did someone say something to you?\"\n\nNot wanting to potentially get the older wolven in trouble, I gave a slight shake of my head. \"It's just…I know many don't accept me, even after the marriage and last night. You're the Prince and all. But he's the King—\"\n\n\"And you're starting to sound like Alastir,\" he interrupted." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"I'd almost think he got you all worked up again, but he stayed in Atlantia.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"It's not Alastir,\" I said. \"But he did say that, and he has a point. I know you wanted to marry me partly because it offered me a level of protection—\"\n\n\"Originally, Poppy. And that was only because I'd convinced myself that was the reason,\" he stated. \"It wasn't the only reason. Neither was freeing my brother or preventing a war. I wanted you, and I wanted to find a way to try to keep you.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "There was a different kind of snag in my chest now in response to his words." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"You have me,\" I whispered the words I'd said to him in the carriage.\n\n\"I know.\" His gaze held mine. \"And no one, not even my father or my mother, will change that.\"\n\nI believed him." }, { "from": "human", "value": "I really did." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"No one will harm you,\" he vowed. \"I will not allow it.\"\n\n\"Neither will I.\"\n\nHe smiled then, both dimples appearing." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"I know. Come.\" Rising, he reached for the towel." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"If you stay in there any longer, you will start to grow fins.\"\n\n\"Like a ceeren?\"\n\nA grin appeared. \"Like a ceeren.\"\n\nI didn't move though." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"I lied to you.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Casteel arched a brow. \"About?\"\n\n\"You asked me if the Duchess had said anything to me before I killed her, and I said no. That was a lie.\"\n\nA heartbeat passed. \"What did she say?\"\n\n\"I…I asked her about my brother and yours. She said they were together, but that's all she would say about them.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "I watched him return to kneeling beside me." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"She told me that Tawny was going to Ascend without waiting—that it could've already happened. She said that the Queen knew how much I cared for Tawny and wanted her to be there, so when I returned home, I would feel comfortable.\"\n\n\"Gods.\" Casteel leaned over, cupping the back of my head. \"You don't know if any of that is true. Any of it, Poppy. Your brother. Mine. Tawny. She—\"\n\n\"She said that the Queen will be thrilled when she learns we've married. That if she knew that had happened, none of what took place last night would've been necessary,\" I told him, and he stilled." } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Task: The user will write a bit then you need to write around four sentences continuing directly from the user's text.\n\nAuthor style: Jane Austen" }, { "from": "system", "value": "Produce a starting prompt please." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Though now the middle of December, there had yet been no weather to prevent the young ladies from tolerably regular exercise; and on the morrow, Emma had a charitable visit to pay to a poor sick family who lived a little way out of Highbury.\n\nTheir road to this detached cottage was down Vicarage Lane, a lane leading at right-angles from the broad, though irregular, main street of the place; and, as may be inferred, containing the blessed abode of Mr. Elton. A few inferior dwellings were first to be passed, and then, about a quarter of a mile down the lane, rose the vicarage; an old and not very good house, almost as close to the road as it could be. It had no advantage of situation: but had been very much smartened up by the present proprietor; and, such as it was, there could be no possibility of the two friends passing it without a slackened pace and observing eyes. Emma's remark was,—" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"There it is. There go you and your riddle-book one of these days.\" Harriet's was,—" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Oh, what a sweet house! How very beautiful! There are the yellow curtains that Miss Nash admires so much.\"\n\n\"I do not often walk this way now,\" said Emma, as they proceeded, \"but then there will be an inducement, and I shall gradually get intimately acquainted with all the hedges, gates, pools, and pollards of this part of Highbury.\"\n\nHarriet, she found, had never in her life been within-side the vicarage; and her curiosity to see it was so extreme, that, considering exteriors and probabilities, Emma could only class it, as a proof of love, with Mr. Elton's seeing ready wit in her.\n\n\"I wish we could contrive it,\" said she; \"but I cannot think of any tolerable pretence for going in;—no servant that I want to enquire about of his housekeeper—no message from my father.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "She pondered, but could think of nothing." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "After a mutual silence of some minutes, Harriet thus began again, \"I do so wonder, Miss Woodhouse, that you should not be married, or going to be married—so charming as you are.\"\n\nEmma laughed, and replied,—\n\n\"My being charming, Harriet, is not quite enough to induce me to marry; I must find other people charming—one other person at least. And I am not only not going to be married at present, but have very little intention of ever marrying at all.\"\n\n\"Ah, so you say; but I cannot believe it.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"I must see somebody very superior to any one I have seen yet, to be tempted: Mr. Elton, you know (recollecting herself), is out of the question; and I do not wish to see any such person. I would rather not be tempted. I cannot really change for the better. If I were to marry, I must expect to repent it.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Dear me!—it is so odd to hear a woman talk so!\"\n\n\"I have none of the usual inducements of women to marry. Were I to fall in love, indeed, it would be a different thing; but I never have been in love: it is not my way, or my nature; and I do not think I ever shall. And, without love, I am sure I should be a fool to change such a situation as mine. Fortune I do not want; employment I do not want; consequence I do not want: I believe few married women are half as much mistress of their husband's house as I am of Hartfield; and never, never could I expect to be so truly beloved and important; so always first and always right in any man's eyes as I am in my father's.\"\n\n\"But then, to be an old maid at last, like Miss Bates!\"\n\n\"That is as formidable an image as you could present, Harriet; and if I thought I should ever be like Miss Bates—so silly, so satisfied, so smiling, so prosing, so undistinguishing and unfastidious, and so apt to tell every thing relative to every body about me, I would marry to-morrow. But between us, I am convinced there never can be any likeness, except in being unmarried.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"But still, you will be an old maid—and that's so dreadful!\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Never mind, Harriet, I shall not be a poor old maid; and it is poverty only which makes celibacy contemptible to a generous public! A single woman with a very narrow income must be a ridiculous, disagreeable old maid! the proper sport of boys and girls; but a single woman of good fortune is always respectable, and may be as sensible and pleasant as any body else! And the distinction is not quite so much against the candour and common sense of the world as appears at first; for a very narrow income has a tendency to contract the mind, and sour the temper. Those who can barely live, and who live perforce in a very small, and generally very inferior, society, may well be illiberal and cross. This does not apply, however, to Miss Bates: she is only too good natured and too silly to suit me; but, in general, she is very much to the taste of every body, though single and though poor. Poverty certainly has not contracted her mind: I really believe, if she had only a shilling in the world she would be very likely to give away sixpence of it; and nobody is afraid of her: that is a great charm.\"\n\n\"Dear me! but what shall you do? How shall you employ yourself when you grow old?\"\n\n\"If I know myself, Harriet, mine is an active, busy mind, with a great many independent resources; and I do not perceive why I should be more in want of employment at forty or fifty than one-and-twenty. Woman's usual occupations of eye, and hand, and mind, will be as open to me then as they are now, or with no important variation. If I draw less, I shall read more; if I give up music, I shall take to carpet-work. And as for objects of interest, objects for the affections, which is, in truth, the great point of inferiority, the want of which is really the great evil to be avoided in not marrying, I shall be very well off, with all the children of a sister I love so much to care about. There will be enough of them, in all probability, to supply every sort of sensation that declining life can need. There will be enough for every hope and every fear; and though my attachment to none can equal that of a parent, it suits my ideas of comfort better than what is warmer and blinder. My nephews and nieces: I shall often have a niece with me.\"\n\n\"Do you know Miss Bates's niece? That is, I know you must have seen her a hundred times—but are you acquainted?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Oh yes; we are always forced to be acquainted whenever she comes to Highbury. By the by, that is almost enough to put one out of conceit with a niece. Heaven forbid, at least, that I should ever bore people half so much about all the Knightleys together as she does about Jane Fairfax. One is sick of the very name of Jane Fairfax. Every letter from her is read forty times over: her compliments to all friends go round and round again; and if she does but send her aunt the pattern of a stomacher, or knit a pair of garters for her grandmother, one hears of nothing else for a month. I wish Jane Fairfax very well; but she tires me to death.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "They were now approaching the cottage, and all idle topics were superseded. Emma was very compassionate; and the distresses of the poor were as sure of relief from her personal attention and kindness, her counsel and her patience, as from her purse. She understood their ways, could allow for their ignorance and their temptations, had no romantic expectations of extraordinary virtue from those for whom education had done so little, entered into their troubles with ready sympathy, and always gave her assistance with as much intelligence as good will. In the present instance, it was sickness and poverty together which she came to visit; and after remaining there as long as she could give comfort or advice, she quitted the cottage with such an impression of the scene as made her say to Harriet, as they walked away,—" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"These are the sights, Harriet, to do one good. How trifling they make every thing else appear! I feel now as if I could think of nothing but these poor creatures all the rest of the day; and yet who can say how soon it may all vanish from my mind?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Very true,\" said Harriet. \"Poor creatures! one can think of nothing else.\"\n\n\"And really, I do not think the impression will soon be over,\" said Emma, as she crossed the low hedge, and tottering footstep which ended the narrow, slippery path through the cottage garden, and brought them into the lane again. \"I do not think it will,\" stopping to look once more at all the outward wretchedness of the place, and recall the still greater within." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Oh dear, no,\" said her companion." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "They walked on. The lane made a slight bend; and when that bend was passed, Mr. Elton was immediately in sight; and so near as to give Emma time only to say farther,—\n\n\"Ah, Harriet, here comes a very sudden trial of our stability in good thoughts. Well (smiling), I hope it may be allowed that if compassion has produced exertion and relief to the sufferers, it has done all that is truly important. If we feel for the wretched, enough to do all we can for them, the rest is empty sympathy, only distressing to ourselves.\"\n\nHarriet could just answer, \"Oh dear, yes,\" before the gentleman joined them. The wants and sufferings of the poor family, however, were the first subject on meeting." }, { "from": "human", "value": "He had been going to call on them." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "His visit he would now defer; but they had a very interesting parley about what could be done and should be done. Mr. Elton then turned back to accompany them.\n\n\"To fall in with each other on such an errand as this,\" thought Emma; \"to meet in a charitable scheme; this will bring a great increase of love on each side. I should not wonder if it were to bring on the declaration. It must, if I were not here. I wish I were any where else.\"\n\nAnxious to separate herself from them as far as she could, she soon afterwards took possession of a narrow footpath, a little raised on one side of the lane, leaving them together in the main road." }, { "from": "human", "value": "But she had not been there two minutes when she found that Harriet's habits of dependence and imitation were bringing her up too, and that, in short, they would both be soon after her." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "This would not do; she immediately stopped, under pretence of having some alteration to make in the lacing of her half-boot, and stooping down in complete occupation of the footpath, begged them to have the goodness to walk on, and she would follow in half a minute. They did as they were desired; and by the time she judged it reasonable to have done with her boot, she had the comfort of further delay in her power, being overtaken by a child from the cottage, setting out, according to orders, with her pitcher, to fetch broth from Hartfield. To walk by the side of this child, and talk to and question her, was the most natural thing in the world, or would have been the most natural, had she been acting just then without design; and by this means the others were still able to keep ahead, without any obligation of waiting for her. She gained on them, however, involuntarily: the child's pace was quick, and theirs rather slow; and she was the more concerned at it, from their being evidently in a conversation which interested them." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Mr. Elton was speaking with animation, Harriet listening with a very pleased attention; and Emma having sent the child on, was beginning to think how she might draw back a little more, when they both looked around, and she was obliged to join them." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Mr. Elton was still talking, still engaged in some interesting detail; and Emma experienced some disappointment when she found that he was only giving his fair companion an account of the yesterday's party at his friend Cole's, and that she was come in herself for the Stilton cheese, the north Wiltshire, the butter, the celery, the beet-root, and all the dessert.\n\n\"This would soon have led to something better, of course,\" was her consoling reflection; \"any thing interests between those who love; and any thing will serve as introduction to what is near the heart. If I could but have kept longer away.\"\n\nThey now walked on together quietly till within view of the vicarage pales, when a sudden resolution, of at least getting Harriet into the house, made her again find something very much amiss about her boot, and fall behind to arrange it once more. She then broke the lace off short, and dexterously throwing it into a ditch, was presently obliged to entreat them to stop, and acknowledge her inability to put herself to rights so as to be able to walk home in tolerable comfort." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Part of my lace is gone,\" said she, \"and I do not know how I am to contrive. I really am a most troublesome companion to you both, but I hope I am not often so ill-equipped. Mr. Elton, I must beg leave to stop at your house, and ask your housekeeper for a bit of riband or string, or any thing just to keep my boot on.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Mr. Elton looked all happiness at this proposition; and nothing could exceed his alertness and attention in conducting them into his house, and endeavouring to make every thing appear to advantage. The room they were taken into was the one he chiefly occupied, and looking forwards; behind it was another with which it immediately communicated: the door between them was open, and Emma passed into it with the housekeeper, to receive her assistance in the most comfortable manner. She was obliged to leave the door ajar as she found it; but she fully intended that Mr. Elton should close it. It was not closed, however, it still remained ajar; but by engaging the housekeeper in incessant conversation, she hoped to make it practicable for him to choose his own subject in the adjoining room." }, { "from": "human", "value": "For ten minutes she could hear nothing but herself." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "It could be protracted no longer. She was then obliged to be finished, and make her appearance.\n\nThe lovers were standing together at one of the windows. It had a most favourable aspect; and, for half a minute, Emma felt the glory of having schemed successfully." } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "I'll be your writing partner today. I will set the scene, and you will continue the story with four sentences, channeling the voice and techniques of Jane Austen.i'll kick things off by writing a bit, then you'll take over and write the next four sentences in the distinctive voice of Jane Austen.Ive got a bit of writers block, im gonna send you something then keep it going four sentences at a time, also im going for a Jane Austen sorta thing." }, { "from": "human", "value": "There could hardly be a happier creature in the world than Mrs. John Knightley, in this short visit to Hartfield, going about every morning among her old acquaintance with her five children, and talking over what she had done every evening with her father and sister." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "She had nothing to wish otherwise, but that the days did not pass so swiftly. It was a delightful visit;—perfect, in being much too short.\n\nIn general their evenings were less engaged with friends than their mornings: but one complete dinner engagement, and out of the house too, there was no avoiding, though at Christmas. Mr. Weston would take no denial: they must all dine at Randalls one day;—even Mr. Woodhouse was persuaded to think it a possible thing in preference to a division of the party." }, { "from": "human", "value": "How they were all to be conveyed, he would have made a difFculty if he could, but as his son and daughter's carriage and horses were actually at Hartfield, he was not able to make more than a simple question on that head; it hardly amounted to a doubt; nor did it occupy Emma long to convince him that they might in one of the carriages find room for Harriet also." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Harriet, Mr. Elton, and Mr. Knightley, their own especial set, were the only persons invited to meet them:—the hours were to be early as well as the numbers few; Mr. Woodhouse's habits and inclination being consulted in every thing.\n\nThe evening before this great event (for it was a very great event that Mr. Woodhouse should dine out on the 24th of December) had been spent by Harriet at Hartfield, and she had gone home so much indisposed with a cold, that, but for her own earnest wish of being nursed by Mrs. Goddard, Emma could not have allowed her to leave the house. Emma called on her the next day, and found her doom already signed with regard to Randalls. She was very feverish and had a bad sore-throat: Mrs. Goddard was full of care and affection, Mr. Perry was talked of, and Harriet herself was too ill and low to resist the authority which excluded her from this delightful engagement, though she could not speak of her loss without many tears." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Emma sat with her as long as she could, to attend her in Mrs. Goddard's unavoidable absences, and raise her spirits by representing how much Mr. Elton's would be depressed when he knew her state; and left her at last tolerably comfortable, in the sweet dependence of his having a most comfortless visit, and of their all missing her very much." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "She had not advanced many yards from Mrs. Goddard's door, when she was met by Mr. Elton himself, evidently coming towards it, and as they walked on slowly together in conversation about the invalid,—of whom he, on the rumour of considerable illness, had been going to enquire, that he might carry some report of her to Hartfield,—they were overtaken by Mr. John Knightley returning from the daily visit to Donwell, with his two eldest boys, whose healthy, glowing faces showed all the benefit of a country run, and seemed to ensure a quick despatch of the roast mutton and rice pudding they were hastening home for. They joined company and proceeded together. Emma was just describing the nature of her friend's complaint:—\"a throat very much inflamed, with a great deal of heat about her, a quick low pulse, &c., and she was sorry to find from Mrs. Goddard that Harriet was liable to very bad sore throats, and had often alarmed her with them.\" Mr. Elton looked all alarm on the occasion, as he exclaimed, —" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"A sore throat!—I hope not infectious. 1 hope not of a putrid infectious sort. Has Perry seen her? Indeed you should take care of yourself as well as of your friend. Let me entreat you to run no risks. Why does not Perry see her?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Emma, who was not really at all frightened herself, tranquillised this excess of apprehension by assurances of Mrs. Goddard's experience and care; but as there must still remain a degree of uneasinesswhich she could not wish to reason away, which she would rather feed and assist than not, she added soon afterwards—as if quite another subject,—\n\n\"It is so cold, so very cold, and looks and feels so very much like snow, that if it were to any other place or with any other party, I should really try not to go out to-day, and dissuade my father from venturing; but as he has made up his mind, and does not seem to feel the cold himself, I do not like to interfere, as I know it would be so great a disappointment to Mr. and Mrs. Weston. But upon my word, Mr. Elton, in your case, I should certainly excuse myself. You appear to me a little hoarse already; and when you consider what demand of voice and what fatigues to-morrow will bring, I think it would be no more than common prudence to stay at home and take care of yourself to-night.\"\n\nMr. Elton looked as if he did not very well know what answer to make; which was exactly the case; for though very much gratified by the kind care of such a fair lady, and not liking to resist any advice of hers, he had not really the least inclination to give up the visit; but Emma, too eager and busy in her own previous conceptions and views to hear him impartially, or see him with clear vision, was very well satisfied with his muttering acknowledgment of its being \"very cold, certainly very cold,\" and walked on, rejoicing in having extricated himself from Randalls, and secured him the power of sending to enquire after Harriet every hour of the evening.\n\n\"You do quite right,\" said she:—\"we will make your apologies to Mr. and Mrs. Weston.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "But hardly had she so spoken when she found her brother was civilly offering a seat in his carriage, if the weather were Mr. Elton's only objection, and Mr. Elton actually accepting the offer with much prompt satisfaction." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "It was a done thing: Mr. Elton was to go; and never had his broad handsome face expressed more pleasure than at this moment; never had his smile been stronger; nor his eyes more exulting than when he next looked at her.\n\n\"Well,\" said she to herself, \"this is most strange! After I had gotten him off so well, to choose to go into company, and leave Harriet ill behind! Most strange indeed! But there is, I believe, in many men, especially single men, such an inclination—such a passion for dining out; a dinner engagement is so high in the class of their pleasures, their employments, their dignities, almost their duties, that any thing gives way to it—and this must be the case with Mr. Elton: a most valuable, amiable, pleasing young man undoubtedly, and very much in love with Harriet; but still, he cannot refuse an invitation, he must dine out wherever he is asked. What a strange thing love is! he can see ready wit in Harriet, but will not dine alone for her.\"\n\nSoon afterwards Mr. Elton quitted them, and she could not but do him the justice of feeling that there was a great deal of sentiment in his manner of naming Harriet at parting; in the tone of his voice while assuring her that he should call at Mrs. Goddard's for news of her fair friend, the last thing before he prepared for the happiness of meeting her again, when he hoped to be able to give a better report; and he sighed and smiled himself off in a way that left the balance of approbation much in his favour.\n\nAfter a few minutes of entire silence between them, John Knightley began with,—" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"I never in my life saw a man more intent on being agreeable than Mr. Elton. It is downright labour to him where ladies are concerned. With men he can be rational and unaffected, but when he has ladies to please every feature works.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Mr. Elton's manners are not perfect,\" replied Emma; \"but where there is a wish to please, one ought to overlook, and one does overlook a great deal. Where a man does his best with only moderate powers, he will have the advantage over negligent superiority. There is such perfect good temper and good will in Mr. Elton as one cannot but value.\"\n\n\"Yes,\" said Mr. John Knightley presently, with some slyness, \"he seems to have a great deal of good will towards you.\"\n\n\"Me!\" she replied, with a smile of astonishment; \"are you imagining me to be Mr. Elton's object?\"\n\n\"Such an imagination has crossed me, I own, Emma; and if it never occurred to you before, you may as well take it into consideration now.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Mr. Elton in love with me! What an idea!\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"I do not say it is so; but you will do well to consider whether it is so or not, and to regulate your behaviour accordingly. I think your manners to him encouraging. I speak as a friend, Emma. You had better look about you, and ascertain what you do, and what you mean to do.\"\n\n\"I thank you; but I assure you you are quite mistaken. Mr. Elton and I are very good friends, and nothing more;\" and she walked on, amusing herself in the consideration of the blunders which often arise from a partial knowledge of circumstances, of the mistakes which people of high pretensions to judgment are for ever falling into; and not very well pleased with her brother for imagining her blind and ignorant, and in want of counsel. He said no more.\n\nMr. Woodhouse had so completely made up his mind to the visit, that in spite of the increasing coldness, he seemed to have no idea of shrinking from it, and set forward at last most punctually with his eldest daughter in his own carriage, with less apparent consciousness of the weather than either of the others; too full of the wonder of his own going, and the pleasure it was to afford at Randalls to see that it was cold, and too well wrapt up to feel it." }, { "from": "human", "value": "The cold, however, was severe; and by the time the second carriage was in motion, a few flakes of snow were finding their way down, and the sky had the appearance of being so overcharged as to want only a milder air to produce a very white world in a very short time." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Emma soon saw that her companion was not in the happiest humour. The preparing and the going abroad in such weather, with the sacrifice of his children after dinner, were evils, were disagreeables at least, which Mr. John Knightley did not by any means like: he anticipated nothing in the visit that could be at all worth the purchase; and the whole of their drive to the vicarage was spent by him in expressing his discontent.\n\n\"A man,\" said he, \"must have a very good opinion of himself when he asks people to leave their own fireside, and encounter such a day as this, for the sake of coming to see him. He must think himself a most agreeable fellow; I could not do such a thing." }, { "from": "human", "value": "It is the greatest absurdity—actually snowing at this moment!" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The folly of not allowing people to be comfortable at home—and the folly of people's not staying comfortably at home when they can! If we were obliged to go out such an evening as this, by any call of duty or business, what a hardship we should deem it;—and here are we, probably with rather thinner clothing than usual, setting forward voluntarily, without excuse, in defiance of the voice of nature, which tells man, in every thing given to his view or his feelings, to stay at home himself, and keep all under shelter that he can;—here are we setting forward to spend five dull hours in another man's house, with nothing to say or to hear that was not said and heard yesterday, and may not be said and heard again to-morrow. Going in dismal weather, to return probably in worse;—four horses and four servants taken out for nothing but to convey five idle, shivering creatures into colder rooms and worse company than they might have had at home.\n\nEmma did not find herself equal to give the pleased assent, which no doubt he was in the habit of receiving, to emulate the \"Very true, my love,\" which must have been usually administered by his travelling companion; but she had resolution enough to refrain from making any answer at all." }, { "from": "human", "value": "She could not be complying; she dreaded being quarrelsome; her heroism reached only to silence." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "She allowed him to talk, and arranged the glasses, and wrapped herself up, without opening her lips.\n\nThey arrived, the carriage turned, the step was let down, and Mr. Elton, spruce, black, and smiling, was with them instantly. Emma thought with pleasure of some change of subject. Mr. Elton was all obligation and cheerfulness; he was so very cheerful in his civilities indeed, that she began to think he must have received a different account of Harriet from what had reached her." }, { "from": "human", "value": "She had sent while dressing, and the answer had been, \"Much the same—not better.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"My report from Mrs. Goddard's,\" said she, presently, \"was not so pleasant as I had hoped:—'Not better,' was my answer.\"\n\nHis face lengthened immediately; and his voice was the voice of sentiment as he answered,—\n\n\"Oh no—I am grieved to find—I was on the point of telling you that when I called at Mrs. Goddard's door, which I did the very last thing before I returned to dress, I was told that Miss Smith was not better, by no means better, rather worse. Very much grieved and concerned—I had flattered myself that she must be better after such a cordial as I knew had been given in the morning.\"\n\nEmma smiled, and answered,—\"My visit was of use to the nervous part of her complaint, I hope; but not even I can charm away a sore throat; it is a most severe cold, indeed. Mr. Perry has been with her, as you probably heard.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Yes—I imagined—that is—I did not—\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"He has been used to her in these complaints, and I hope to-morrow morning will bring us both a more comfortable report. But it is impossible not to feel uneasiness. Such a sad loss to our party to-day!\"\n\n\"Dreadful! Exactly so, indeed. She will be missed every moment.\"\n\nThis was very proper; the sigh which accompanied it was really estimable; but it should have lasted longer. Emma was rather in dismay when only half a minute afterwards he began to speak of other things, and in a voice of the greatest alacrity and enjoyment." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"What an excellent device,\" said he, \"the use of a sheep-skin for carriages. How very comfortable they make it;—impossible to feel cold with such precautions. The contrivances of modern days, indeed, have rendered a gentleman's carriage perfectly complete. One is so fenced and guarded from the weather, that not a breath of air can find its way unpermitted. Weather becomes absolutely of no consequence. It is a very cold afternoon—but in this carriage we know nothing of the matter. Ha! snows a little, I see.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Yes,\" said John Knightley, \"and I think we shall have a good deal of it.\"\n\n\"Christmas weather,\" observed Mr. Elton. \"Quite seasonable; and extremely fortunate we may think ourselves that it did not begin yesterday, and prevent this day's party, which it might very possibly have done, for Mr. Woodhouse would hardly have ventured had there been much snow on the ground; but now it is of no consequence. This is quite the season, indeed, for friendly meetings. At Christmas every body invites their friends about them, and people think little of even the worst weather. I was snowed up at a friend's house once for a week. Nothing could be pleasanter. I went for only one night, and could not get away till that very day se'nnight.\" Mr. John Knightley looked as if he did not comprehend the pleasure, but said only, coolly,—" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"I cannot wish to be snowed up a week at Randalls.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "At another time Emma might have been amused, but she was too much astonished now at Mr. Elton's spirits for other feelings. Harriet seemed quite forgotten in the expectation of a pleasant party.\n\n\"We are sure of excellent fires,\" continued he, \"and every thing in the greatest comfort. Charming people, Mr. and Mrs. Weston;—Mrs. Weston indeed is much beyond praise, and he is exactly what one values, so hospitable, and so fond of society;—it will be a small party, but where small parties are select, they are, perhaps, the most agreeable of any. Mr. Weston's dining-room does not accommodate more than ten comfortably; and for my part, I would rather, under such circumstances, fall short by two than exceed by two. I think you will agree with me (turning with a soft air to Emma), I think I shall certainly have your approbation, though Mr. Knightley, perhaps, from being used to the large parties of London, may not quite enter into our feelings.\"\n\n\"I know nothing of the large parties of London, sir—I never dine with any body.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Indeed! (in a tone of wonder and pity,) I had no idea that the law had been so great a slavery. Well, sir, the time must come when you will be paid for all this, when you will have little labour and great enjoyment.\"" }, { "from": "system", "value": "Your next one should be approximately one sentence." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"My first enjoyment,\" replied John Knightley, as they passed through the sweep-gate, \"will be to find myself safe at Hartfield again.\"" } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Task: Cooperative storytelling\nMy role: Provide a brief opening\nYour role: Expand upon my opening with four sentences, emulating the writing style of Jane Austen." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Mr. Frank Churchill did not come." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "When the time proposed drew near, Mrs. Weston's fears were justified in the arrival of a letter of excuse. For the present, he could not be spared, to his \"very great mortification and regret; but still he looked forward with the hope of coming to Randalls at no distant period.\"\n\nMrs. Weston was exceedingly disappointed,—much more disappointed, in fact, than her husband, though her dependence on seeing the young man had been so much more sober; but a sanguine temper, though for ever expecting more good than occurs, does not always pay for its hopes by any proportionate depression. It soon flies over the present failure, and begins to hope again." }, { "from": "human", "value": "For half an hour Mr. Weston was surprised and sorry: but then he began to perceive that Frank's coming two or three months later would be a much better plan, better time of year, better weather; and that he would be able, without any doubt, to stay considerably longer with them than if he had come sooner." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "These feelings rapidly restored his comfort, while Mrs. Weston, of a more apprehensive disposition, foresaw nothing but a repetition of excuses and delays; and after all her concern for what her husband was to suffer, suffered a great deal more herself.\n\nEmma was not at this time in a state of spirits to care really about Mr. Frank Churchill's not coming, except as a disappointment at Randalls. The acquaintance, at present, had no charm for her. She wanted, rather, to be quiet and out of temptation; but still, as it was desirable that she should appear, in general, like her usual self, she took care to express as much interest in the circumstance, and enter as warmly into Mr. and Mrs. Weston's disappointment as might naturally belong to their friendship." }, { "from": "human", "value": "She was the first to announce it to Mr. Knightley; and exclaimed quite as much as was necessary (or, being acting a part, perhaps rather more,) at the conduct of the Churchills in keeping him away." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "She then proceeded to say a good deal more than she felt of the advantage of such an addition to their confined society in Surrey; the pleasure of looking at somebody new; the gala-day to Highbury entire, which the sight of him would have made; and ending with reflections on the Churchills again, found herself directly involved in a disagreement with Mr. Knightley; and, to her great amusement, perceived that she was taking the other side of the question from her real opinion, and, making use of Mrs. Weston's arguments against herself.\n\n\"The Churchills are very likely in fault,\" said Mr. Knightley, coolly; \"but I dare say he might come if he would.\"\n\n\"I do not know why you should say so. He wishes exceedingly to come; but his uncle and aunt will not spare him.\"\n\n\"I cannot believe that he has not the power of coming, if he made a point of it. It is too unlikely for me to believe it without proof.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"How odd you are! What has Mr. Frank Churchill done, to make you suppose him such an unnatural creature?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"I am not supposing him at all an unnatural creature, in suspecting that he may have learned to be above his connections, and to care very little for any thing but his own pleasure, from living with those who have always set him the example of it. It is a great deal more natural than one could wish, that a young man, brought up by those who are proud, luxurious, and selfish, should be proud, luxurious, and selfish too. If Frank Churchill had wanted to see his father, he would have contrived it between September and January. A man at his age,—what is he?—three or four and twenty—cannot be without the means of doing as much as that. It is impossible.\"\n\n\"That's easily said, and easily felt by you, who have always been your own master. You are the worst judge in the world, Mr. Knightley, of the difficulties of dependence. You do not know what it is to have tempers to manage.\"\n\n\"It is not to be conceived that a man of three or four and twenty should not have liberty of mind or limb to that amount. He cannot want money, he cannot want leisure. We know, on the contrary, that he has so much of both, that he is glad to get rid of them at the idlest haunts in the kingdom. We hear of him for ever at some watering-place or other; a little while ago he was at Weymouth. This proves that he can leave the Churchills.\"\n\n\"Yes, sometimes he can.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"And those times are, whenever he thinks it worth his while; whenever there is any temptation of pleasure.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"It is very unfair to judge of any body's conduct, without an intimate knowledge of their situation. Nobody, who has not been in the interior of a family, can say what the difficulties of any individual of that family may be. We ought to be acquainted with Enscombe, and with Mrs. Churchill's temper, before we pretend to decide with what her nephew can do. He may, at times, be able to do a great deal more than he can at others.\"\n\n\"There is one thing, Emma, which a man can always do, if he chooses, and that is, his duty; not by manœuvering and finessing, but by vigour and resolution. It is Frank Churchill's duty to pay this attention to his father. He knows it to be so, by his promises and messages; but if he wished to do it, it might be done. A man who felt rightly would say at once, simply and resolutely, to Mrs. Churchill, 'Every sacrifice of mere pleasure you will always find me ready to make to your convenience; but I must go and see my father immediately. I know he would be hurt by my failing in such a mark of respect to him on the present occasion. I shall, therefore, set off to-morrow.' If he would say so to her at once, in the tone of decision becoming a man, there would be no opposition made to his going.\"\n\n\"No,\" said Emma, laughing; \"but perhaps there might be some made to his coming back again. Such language for a young man entirely dependent to use! Nobody but you, Mr. Knightley, would imagine it possible: but you have not an idea of what is requisite in situations directly opposite to your own. Mr. Frank Churchill to be making such a speech as that to the uncle and aunt who have brought him up, and are to provide for him!—standing up in the middle of the room, I suppose, and speaking as loud as he could! How can you imagine such conduct practicable?\"\n\n\"Depend upon it, Emma, a sensible man would find no difficulty in it. He would feel himself in the right; and the declaration, —made, of course, as a man of sense would make it, in a proper manner,—would do him more good, raise him higher, fix his interest stronger with the people he depended on, than all that a line of shifts and expedients can ever do. Respect would be added to affection. They would feel that they could trust him; that the nephew, who had done rightly by his father, would do rightly by them; for they know, as well as he does,—as well as all the world must know,—that he ought to pay this visit to his father; and while meanly exerting their power to delay it, are in their hearts not thinking the better of him for submitting to their whims. Respect for right conduct is felt by every body. If he would act in this sort of manner, on principle, consistently, regularly, their little minds would bend to his.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"I rather doubt that. You are very fond of bending little minds; but where little minds belong to rich people in authority, I think they have a knack of swelling out, till they are quite as unmanageable as great ones. I can imagine, that if you, as you are, Mr. Knightley, were to be transported and placed all at once in Mr. Frank Churchill's situation, you would be able to say and do just what you have been recommending for him; and it might have a very good effect. The Churchills might not have a word to say in return; but then, you would have no habits of early obedience and long observance to break through. To him who has, it might not be so easy to burst forth at once into perfect independence, and set all their claims on his gratitude and regard at nought. He may have as strong a sense of what would be right as you can have, without being so equal, under particular circumstances, to act up to it.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Then, it would not be so strong a sense. If it failed to produce equal exertion, it could not be an equal conviction.\"\n\n\"Oh the difference of situation and habit! I wish you would try to understand what an amiable young man may be likely to feel in directly opposing those whom, as child and boy, he has been looking up to all his life.\"\n\n\"Your amiable young man is a very weak young man, if this be the first occasion of his carrying through a resolution to do right against the will of others. It ought to have been a habit with him, by this time, of following his duty, instead of consulting expediency. I can allow for the fears of the child, but not of the man. As he became rational, he ought to have roused himself, and shaken off all that was unworthy in their authority. He ought to have opposed the first attempt on their side to make him slight his father. Had he begun as he ought, there would have been no difficulty now.\"\n\n\"We shall never agree about him,\" cried Emma; \"but that is nothing extraordinary. I have not the least idea of his being a weak young man: I feel sure that he is not. Mr. Weston would not be blind to folly, though in his own son; but he is very likely to have a more yielding, complying, mild disposition, than would suit your notions of man's perfection. I dare say he has; and though it may cut him off from some advantages, it will secure him many others.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Yes; all the advantages of sitting still when he ought to move, and of leading a life of mere idle pleasure, and fancying himself extremely expert in finding excuses for it. He can sit down and write a fine flourishing letter, full of professions and falsehoods, and persuade himself that he has hit upon the very best method in the world of preserving peace at home, and preventing his father's having any right to complain. His letters disgust me.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Your feelings are singular. They seem to satisfy every body else.\" \"I suspect they do not satisfy Mrs. Weston. They hardly can satisfy a woman of her good sense and quick feelings: standing in a mother's place, but without a mother's affection to blind her. It is on her account that attention to Randalls is doubly due, and she must doubly feel the omission. Had she been a person of consequence herself, he would have come, I dare say; and it would not have signified whether he did or no. Can you think your friend behind-hand in these sort of considerations? Do you suppose she does not often say all this to herself? No, Emma; your amiable young man can be amiable only in French, not in English. He may be very 'amiable,' have very good manners, and be very agreeable; but he can have no English delicacy towards the feelings of other people,—nothing really amiable about him.\"\n\n\"You seem determined to think ill of him.\" \"Me! not at all,\" replied Mr. Knightley, rather displeased; \"I do not want to think ill of him. I should be as ready to acknowledge his merits as any other man; but I hear of none, except what are merely personal,—that he is well-grown and good-looking, with smooth, plausible manners.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Well, if he have nothing else to recommend him, he will be a treasure at Highbury. We do not often look upon fine young men, well bred and agreeable. We must not be nice, and ask for all the virtues into the bargain. Cannot you imagine, Mr. Knightley, what a sensation his coming will produce? There will be but one subject throughout the parishes of Donwell and Highbury; but one interest—one object of curiosity; it will be all Mr. Frank Churchill; we shall think and speak of nobody else.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"You will excuse my being so much overpowered. If I find him conversible, I shall be glad of his acquaintance; but if he is only a chattering coxcomb, he will not occupy much of my time or thoughts.\"\n\n\"My idea of him is, that he can adapt his conversation to the taste of every body, and has the power as well as the wish of being universally agreeable. To you, he will talk of farming; to me, of drawing or music; and so on to every body, having that general information on all subjects which will enable him to follow the lead, or take the lead, just as propriety may require, and to speak extremely well on each; that is my idea of him.\"\n\n\"And mine,\" said Mr. Knightley, warmly, \"is, that if he turn out any thing like it, he will be the most insufferable fellow breathing! What! at three-and-twenty to be the king of his company—the great man—the practised politician, who is to read every body's character, and make every body's talents conduce to the display of his own superiority; to be dispensing his flatteries around, that he may make all appear like fools compared with himself! My dear Emma, your own good sense could not endure such a puppy when it came to the point.\"\n\n\"I will say no more about him,\" cried Emma,—\"you turn every thing to evil. We are both prejudiced; you against, I for him; and we have no chance of agreeing till he is really here.\"" } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Write 4 sentences sentences in the style of Jane Austen spawning from what the user wrote." }, { "from": "human", "value": "No misfortune occurred, again to prevent the ball." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The day approached, the day arrived; and, after a morning of some anxious watching, Frank Churchill, in all the certainty of his own self, reached Randalls before dinner, and every thing was safe.\n\nNo second meeting had there yet been between him and Emma. The room at the Crown was to witness it; but it would be better than a common meeting in a crowd. Mr. Weston had been so very earnest in his entreaties for her early attendance, for her arriving there as soon as possible after themselves, for the purpose of taking her opinion as to the propriety and comfort of the rooms before any other person came, that she could not refuse him, and must therefore spend some quiet interval in the young man's company." }, { "from": "human", "value": "She was to convey Harriet, and they drove to the Crown in good time, the Randalls party just sufficiently before them." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Frank Churchill seemed to have been on the watch; and though he did not say much, his eyes declared that he meant to have a delightful evening. They all walked about together, to see that every thing was as it should be; and within a few minutes were joined by the contents of another carriage, which Emma could not hear the sound of at first, without great surprise. \"So unreasonably early!\" she was going to exclaim; but she presently found that it was a family of old friends, who were coming, like herself, by particular desire, to help Mr. Weston's judgment; and they were so very closely followed by another carriage of cousins, who had been entreated to come early with the same distinguishing earnestness, on the same errand, that it seemed as if half the company might soon be collected together for the purpose of preparatory inspection.\n\nEmma perceived that her taste was not the only taste on which Mr. Weston depended, and felt, that to be the favourite and intimate of a man who had so many intimates and confidants, was not the very first distinction in the scale of vanity." }, { "from": "human", "value": "She liked his open manners, but a little less of open-heartedness would have made him a higher character.—General benevolence, but not general friendship, made a man what he ought to be.—She could fancy such a man." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The whole party walked about, and looked, and praised again; and then, having nothing else to do, formed a sort of half circle round the fire, to observe in their various modes, till other subjects were started, that, though May, a fire in the evening was still very pleasant.\n\nEmma found, that it was not Mr. Weston's fault, that the number of privy counsellors was not yet larger. They had stopped at Mrs. Bates's door to offer the use of their carriage, but the aunt and niece were to be brought by the Eltons.\n\nFrank was standing by her, but not steadily; there was a restlessness, which showed a mind not at ease." }, { "from": "human", "value": "He was looking about, he was going to the door, he was watching for the sound of other carriages, —impatient to begin, or afraid of being always near her." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Mrs. Elton was spoken of. \"I think she must be here soon,\" said he. \"I have a great curiosity to see Mrs. Elton, I have heard so much of her. It cannot be long, I think, before she comes.\"\n\nA carriage was heard." }, { "from": "human", "value": "He was on the move immediately; but coming back, said,—" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"I am forgetting that I am not acquainted with her. I have never seen either Mr. or Mrs. Elton. I have no business to put myself forward.\"\n\nMr. and Mrs. Elton appeared; and all the smiles and the proprieties passed.\n\n\"But Miss Bates and Miss Fairfax!\" said Mr. Weston, looking about." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"We thought you were to bring them.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The mistake had been slight. The carriage was sent for them now. Emma longed to know what Frank's first opinion of Mrs. Elton might be; how he was affected by the studied elegance of her dress, and her smiles of graciousness. He was immediately qualifying himself to form an opinion, by giving her very proper attention, after the introduction had passed." }, { "from": "human", "value": "In a few minutes the carriage returned.—Somebody talked of rain.—\"I will see that there are umbrellas, sir,\" said Frank to his father : \"Miss Bates must not be forgotten:\" and away he went." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Mr. Weston was following; but Mrs. Elton detained him, to gratify him by her opinion of his son; and so briskly did she begin, that the young man himself, though by no means moving slowly, could hardly be out of hearing.\n\n\"A very fine young man, indeed, Mr. Weston. You know I candidly told you I should form my own opinion; and I am happy to say that I am extremely pleased with him. You may believe me. I never compliment. I think him a very handsome young man, and his manners are precisely what I like and approve,—so truly the gentleman, without the least conceit or puppyism. You must know I have a vast dislike to puppies—quite a horror of them. They were never tolerated at Maple Grove. Neither Mr. Suckling nor me had ever any patience with them; and we used sometimes to say very cutting things. Selina, who is mild almost to a fault, bore with them much better.\"\n\nWhile she talked of his son, Mr. Weston's attention was chained; but when she got to Maple Grove, he could recollect that there were ladies just arriving to be attended to, and with happy smiles must hurry away.\n\nMrs. Elton turned to Mrs. Weston." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"I have no doubt of its being our carriage with Miss Bates and Jane. Our coachman and horses are so extremely expeditious! I believe we drive faster than any body. What a pleasure it is to send one's carriage for a friend! I understand you were so kind as to offer, but another time it will be quite unnecessary. You may be very sure I shall always take care of them.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Miss Bates and Miss Fairfax, escorted by the two gentlemen, walked into the room; and Mrs. Elton seemed to think it as much her duty as Mrs. Weston's to receive them. Her gestures and movements might be understood by any one who looked on like Emma; but her words, every body's words, were soon lost under the incessant flow of Miss Bates, who came in talking, and had not finished her speech under many minutes after her being admitted into the circle at the fire. As the door opened she was heard,—\n\n\"So very obliging of you!—No rain at all. Nothing to signify. I do not care for myself. Quite thick shoes. And Jane declares—Well! (as soon as she was within the door), well! This is brilliant indeed! This is admirable! Excellently contrived, upon my word. Nothing wanting. Could not have imagined it. So well lighted up! Jane, Jane, look! Did you ever see any thing? Oh! Mr. Weston, you must really have had Aladdin's lamp. Good Mrs. Stokes would not know her own room again. I saw her as I came in; she was standing in the entrance. 'Oh! Mrs. Stokes,' said I—but, I had not time for more.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "She was now met by Mrs. Weston." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Very well, I thank you, ma'am. I hope you are quite well. Very happy to hear it. So afraid you might have a headache! seeing you pass by so often, and knowing how much trouble you must have. Delighted to hear it indeed.—Ah! dear Mrs. Elton, so obliged to you for the carriage; excellent time; Jane and I quite ready. Did not keep the horses a moment. Most comfortable carriage. Oh! and I am sure our thanks are due to you, Mrs. Weston, on that score. Mrs. Elton had most kindly sent Jane a note, or we should have been. But two such offers in one day! Never were such neighbours. I said to my mother, 'Upon my word, ma'am.' Thank you, my mother is remarkably well. Gone to Mr. Woodhouse's. I made her take her shawl,—for the evenings are not warm,—her large new shawl, Mrs. Dixon's wedding present. So kind of her to think of my mother! Bought at Weymouth, you know; Mr. Dixon's choice. There were three others, Jane says, which they hesitated about some time. Colonel Campbell rather preferred an olive.—My dear Jane, are you sure you did not wet your feet? It was but a drop or two, but I am so afraid: but Mr. Frank Churchill was so extremely—and there was a mat to step upon. I shall never forget his extreme politeness. Oh! Mr. Frank Churchill, I must tell you my mother's spectacles have never been in fault since; the rivet never came out again. My mother often talks of your good-nature: does not she Jane? Do not we often talk of Mr. Frank Churchill? Ah! here's Miss Woodhouse. Dear Miss Woodhouse, how do you do? Very well, I thank you, quite well. This is meeting quite in fairy land. Such a transformation! Must not compliment, I know (eyeing Emma most complacently)—that would be rude; but upon my word, Miss Woodhouse, you do look—how do you like Jane's hair? You are a judge. She did it all herself. Quite wonderful how she does her hair! No hairdresser from London, I think, could.—Ah! Dr. Hughes, I declare—and Mrs. Hughes. Must go and speak to Dr. and Mrs. Hughes for a moment. How do you do? How do you do? Very well I thank you. This is delightful, is not it? Where's dear Mr. Richard? Oh! there he is. Don't disturb him. Much better employed talking to the young ladies. How do you do, Mr. Richard? I saw you the other day as you rode through the town. Mrs. Otway, I protest! and good Mr. Otway, and Miss Otway, and Miss Caroline. Such a host of friends! and Mr. George and Mr. Arthur! How do you do? How do you all do? Quite well, I am much obliged to you. Never better. Don't I hear another carriage? Who can this be?—very likely the worthy Coles. Upon my word, this is charming, to be standing about among such friends! And such a noble fire! I am quite roasted. No coffee, I thank you, for me; never take coffee. A little tea, if you please, sir, by-and-by; no hurry. Oh! here it comes. Every thing so good!\"\n\nFrank Churchill returned to his station by Emma; and as soon as Miss Bates was quiet, she found herself necessarily overhearing the discourse of Mrs. Elton and Miss Fairfax, who were standing a little way behind her. He was thoughtful. Whether he were overhearing too, she could not determine. After a good many compliments to Jane on her dress and look,—compliments very quietly and properly taken,—Mrs." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Elton was evidently wanting to be complimented herself—and it was, \"How do you like my gown?—How do you like my trimming?—How has Wright done my hair?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "with many other relative questions, all answered with patient politeness. Mrs. Elton then said,—\n\n\"Nobody can think less of dress in general than I do: but upon such an occasion as this, when every body's eyes are so much upon me, and in compliment to the Westons, who I have no doubt are giving this ball chiefly to do me honour,—I would not wish to be inferior to others: and I see very few pearls in the room except mine.—So, Frank Churchill is a capital dancer, I understand. We shall see if our styles suit.—A fine young man certainly is Frank Churchill. I like him very well.\"\n\nAt this moment Frank began talking so vigorously, that Emma could not but imagine he had overheard his own praises, and did not want to hear more;—and the voices of the ladies were drowned for awhile, till another suspension brought Mrs. Elton's tones again distinctly forward." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Mr. Elton had just joined them, and his wife was exclaiming,—" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Oh! you have found us out at last, have you, in our seclusion?—I was this moment telling Jane, I thought you would begin to be impatient for tidings of us.\"\n\n\"Jane!\" repeated Frank Churchill, with a look of surprise and displeasure. \"That is easy; but Miss Fairfax does not disapprove it, I suppose.\"\n\n\"How do you like Mrs. Elton?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "said Emma, in a whisper." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Not at all.\"\n\n\"You are ungrateful.\"\n\n\"Ungrateful!—What do you mean?\" Then changing from a frown to a smile,—\"No, do not tell me,—I do not want to know what you mean. Where is my father? When are we to begin dancing?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Emma could hardly understand him: he seemed in an odd humour." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He walked off to find his father, but was quickly back again with both Mr. and Mrs. Weston. He had met with them in a little perplexity, which must be laid before Emma. It had just occurred to Mrs. Weston that Mrs. Elton must be asked to begin the ball; that she would expect it; which interfered with all their wishes of giving Emma that distinction. Emma heard the sad truth with fortitude." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"And what are we to do for a proper partner for her?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "said Mr. Weston. \"She will think Frank ought to ask her.\"\n\nFrank turned instantly to Emma, to claim her former promise; and boasted himself an engaged man, which his father looked his most perfect approbation of—and it then appeared that Mrs. Weston was wanting him to dance with Mrs. Elton himself, and that their business was to help to persuade him into it, which was done pretty soon. Mr. Weston and Mrs. Elton led the way; Mr. Frank Churchill and Miss Woodhouse followed. Emma must submit to stand second to Mrs. Elton, though she had always considered the ball as peculiarly for her." }, { "from": "human", "value": "It was almost enough to make her think of marrying." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Mrs. Elton had undoubtedly the advantage, at this time, in vanity completely gratified; for though she had intended to begin with Frank Churchill, she could not lose by the change. Mr. Weston might be his son's superior. In spite of this little rub, however, Emma was smiling with enjoyment, delighted to see the respectable length of the set as it was forming, and to feel that she had so many hours of unusual festivity before her. She was more disturbed by Mr. Knightley's not dancing, than by any thing else." }, { "from": "human", "value": "There he was, among the standers-by, where he ought not to be; he ought to be dancing,—not classing himself with the husbands, and fathers, and whist-players, who were pretending to feel an interest in the dance till their rubbers were made up,—so young as he looked!" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He could not have appeared to greater advantage perhaps any where, than where he had placed himself. His tall, firm, upright figure, among the bulky forms and stooping shoulders of the elderly men, was such as Emma felt must draw every body's eyes; and, excepting her own partner, there was not one among the whole row of young men who could be compared with him. He moved a few steps nearer, and those few steps were enough to prove in how gentlemanlike a manner, with what natural grace, he must have danced, would he but take the trouble. Whenever she caught his eye, she forced him to smile; but in general he was looking grave." }, { "from": "human", "value": "She wished he could love a ball-room better, and could like Frank Churchill better." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He seemed often observing her. She must not flatter herself that he thought of her dancing; but if he were criticising her behaviour, she did not feel afraid. There was nothing like flirtation between her and her partner. They seemed more like cheerful easy friends, than lovers." }, { "from": "human", "value": "That Frank Churchill thought less of her than he had done, was indubitable." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The ball proceeded pleasantly. The anxious cares, the incessant attentions of Mrs. Weston, were not thrown away. Every body seemed happy; and the praise of being a delightful ball which is seldom bestowed till after a ball has ceased to be, was repeatedly given in the very beginning of the existence of this. Of very important, very recordable events, it was not more productive than such meetings usually are." }, { "from": "human", "value": "There was one, however, which Emma thought something of.—The two last dances before supper were begun, and Harriet had no partner;—the only young lady sitting down;—and so equal had been hitherto the number of dancers, that how there could be any one disengaged was the wonder." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "But Emma's wonder lessened soon afterwards, on seeing Mr. Elton sauntering about. He would not ask Harriet to dance if it were possible to be avoided: she was sure he would not—and she was expecting him every moment to escape into the card-room.\n\nEscape, however, was not his plan. He came to the part of the room where the sitters-by were collected, spoke to some, and walked about in front of them, as if to show his liberty, and his resolution of maintaining it." }, { "from": "human", "value": "He did not omit being sometimes directly before Miss Smith, or speaking to those who were close to her." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Emma saw it. She was not yet dancing; she was working her way up from the bottom, and had therefore leisure to look around, and by only turning her head a little she saw it all. When she was half way up the set, the whole group were exactly behind her, and she would no longer allow her eyes to watch; but Mr. Elton was so near, that she heard every syllable of a dialogue which just then took place between him and Mrs. Weston; and she perceived that his wife, who was standing immediately above her, was not only listening also, but even encouraging him by significant glances. The kind-hearted, gentle Mrs. Weston had left her seat to join him and say, \"Do not you dance, Mr. Elton?\" to which his prompt reply was, \"Most readily, Mrs. Weston, if you will dance with me.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Me!—oh! no—I would get you a better partner than myself. I am no dancer.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"If Mrs. Gilbert wishes to dance,\" said he, \"I shall have great pleasure, I am sure; for, though beginning to feel myself rather an old married man, and that my dancing days are over, it would give me very great pleasure at any time to stand up with an old friend like Mrs. Gilbert.\"\n\n\"Mrs. Gilbert does not mean to dance, but there is a young lady disengaged whom I should be very glad to see dancing—Miss Smith.\"\n\n\"Miss Smith—oh!—I had not observed. You are extremely obliging—and if I were not an old married man,—but my dancing days are over, Mrs. Weston." }, { "from": "human", "value": "You will excuse me." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Any thing else I should be most happy to do, at your command—but my dancing days are over.\n\nMrs. Weston said no more; and Emma could imagine with what surprise and mortification she must be returning to her seat. This was Mr. Elton! the amiable, obliging, gentle Mr. Elton." }, { "from": "human", "value": "She looked round for a moment; he had joined Mr. Knightley at a little distance, and was arranging himself for settled conversation, while smiles of high glee passed between him and his wife." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "She would not look again. Her heart was in a glow, and she feared her face might be as hot.\n\nIn another moment a happier sight caught her—Mr. Knightley leading Harriet to the set!—Never had she been more surprised, seldom more delighted, than at that instant." }, { "from": "human", "value": "She was all pleasure and gratitude, both for Harriet and herself, and longed to be thanking him; and though too distant for speech, her countenance said much, as soon as she could catch his eye again." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "His dancing proved to be just what she had believed it, extremely good; and Harriet would have seemed almost too lucky, if it had not been for the cruel state of things before, and for the very complete enjoyment and very high sense of the distinction which her happy features announced. It was not thrown away on her; she bounded higher than ever, flew farther down the middle, and was in a continual course of smiles.\n\nMr. Elton had retreated into the card-room, looking (Emma trusted) very foolish. She did not think he was quite so hardened as his wife, though growing very like her: she spoke some of her feelings, by observing audibly to her partner,—" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Knightley has taken pity on poor little Miss Smith!—Very good-natured, I declare.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Supper was announced. The move began; and Miss Bates might be heard from that moment without interruption, till her being seated at table and taking up her spoon.\n\n\"Jane, Jane, my dear Jane, where are you? Here is your tippet. Mrs. Weston begs you to put on your tippet. She says she is afraid there will be draughts in the passage, though every thing has been done—one door nailed up—quantities of matting—my dear Jane, indeed you must. Mr. Churchill, oh! you are too obliging!—How well you put it on!—so gratified! Excellent dancing indeed!—Yes, my dear, I ran home, as I said I should, to help grandmamma to bed, and got back again, and nobody missed me. I set off without saying a word, just as I told you. Grandmamma was quite well, had a charming evening with Mr. Woodhouse, a vast deal of chat, and backgammon. Tea was made down stairs, biscuits and baked apples and wine before she came away: amazing luck in some of her throws: and she enquired a great deal about you, how you were amused, and who were your partners. 'Oh!' said I, 'I shall not forestall Jane; I left her dancing with Mr. George Otway; she will love to tell you all about it herself to-morrow: her first partner was Mr. Elton; I do not know who will ask her next, perhaps Mr. William Cox.' My dear sir, you are too obliging. Is there nobody you would not rather?—I am not helpless. Sir, you are most kind. Upon my word, Jane on one arm, and me on the other! Stop, stop, let us stand a little back, Mrs. Elton is going; dear Mrs. Elton, how elegant she looks—beautiful lace!—Now we all follow in her train. Quite the queen of the evening!—Well, here we are at the passage. Two steps, Jane, take care of the two steps. Oh! no, there is but one. Well, I was persuaded there were two. How very odd! I was convinced there were two, and there is but one. I never saw any thing equal to the comfort and style—candles everywhere. I was telling you of your grandmamma, Jane,—there was a little disappointment. The baked apples and biscuits, excellent in their way, you know; but there was a delicate fricassee of sweetbread and some asparagus brought in at first, and good Mr. Woodhouse, not thinking the asparagus quite boiled enough, sent it all out again. Now there is nothing grandmamma loves better than sweetbread and asparagus—so she was rather disappointed; but we agreed we would not speak of it to any body, for fear of its getting round to dear Miss Woodhouse, who would be so very much concerned!—Well, this is brilliant! I am all amazement!—could not have supposed any thing!—such elegance and profusion! I have seen nothing like it since. Well, where shall we sit? Where shall we sit? Any where, so that Jane is not in a draught. Where I sit is of no consequence. Oh! do you recommend this side? Well, I am sure, Mr. Churchill—only it seems too good—but just as you please. What you direct in this house cannot be wrong. Dear Jane, how shall we ever recollect half the dishes for grandmamma. Soup too! Bless me! I should not be helped so soon, but it smells most excellent, and I cannot help beginning.\"\n\nEmma had no opportunity of speaking to Mr. Knightley till after supper; but, when they were all in the ball-room again, her eyes invited him irresistibly to come to her and be thanked. He was warm in his reprobation of Mr. Elton's conduct; it had been unpardonable rudeness; and Mrs. Elton's looks also received the due share of censure." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"They aimed at wounding more than Harriet,\" said he." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Emma, why is it that they are your enemies?\"\n\nHe looked with smiling penetration; and, on receiving no answer, added, \"She ought not to be angry with you, I suspect, whatever he may be.—To that surmise, you say nothing, of course: but confess, Emma, that you did want him to marry Harriet.\"\n\n\"I did,\" replied Emma, \"and they cannot forgive me.\"\n\nHe shook his head; but there was a smile of indulgence with it, and he only said,—" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"I shall not scold you. I leave you to your own reflections.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Can you trust me with such flatterers? Does my vain spirit ever tell me I am wrong?\"\n\n\"Not your vain spirit, but your serious spirit. If one leads you wrong, I am sure the other tells you of it.\"\n\n\"I do own myself to have been completely mistaken in Mr. Elton. There is a littleness about him which you discovered, and which I did not: and I was fully convinced of his being in love with Harriet. It was through a series of strange blunders!\"\n\n\"And, in return for your acknowledging so much, I will do you the justice to say, that you would have chosen for him better than he has chosen for himself. Harriet Smith has some first-rate qualities, which Mrs. Elton is totally without. An unpretending, single-minded, artless girl—infinitely to be preferred by any man of sense and taste to such a woman as Mrs. Elton. I found Harriet more conversable than I expected.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Emma was extremely gratified." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "They were interrupted by the bustle of Mr. Weston calling on every body to begin dancing again.\n\n\"Come, Miss Woodhouse, Miss Otway, Miss Fairfax, what are you all doing? Come, Emma, set your companions the example. Every body is lazy! Every body is asleep!\"\n\n\"I am ready,\" said Emma, \"whenever I am wanted.\"\n\n\"Whom are you going to dance with?\" asked Mr. Knightley." } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Task: The user will write a bit then you need to write around 4 sentences continuing directly from the user's text.\n\nAuthor style: Jane Austen" }, { "from": "system", "value": "Produce a starting prompt please." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "If Emma had still, at intervals, an anxious feeling for Harriet, a momentary doubt of its being possible for her to be really cured of her attachment to Mr. Knightley, and really able to accept another man from unbiased inclination, it was not long that she had to suffer from the recurrence of any such uncertainty. A very few days brought the party from London; and she had no sooner an opportunity of being one hour alone with Harriet, than she became perfectly satisfied, unaccountable as it was, that Robert Martin had thoroughly supplanted Mr. Knightley, and was now forming all her views of happiness.\n\nHarriet was a little distressed—did look a little foolish at first; but having once owned that she had been presumptuous and silly, and self-deceived, before, her pain and confusion seemed to die away with the words, and leave her without a care for the past, and with the fullest exultation in the present and future; for, as to her friend's approbation, Emma had instantly removed every fear of that nature, by meeting her with the most unqualified congratulations. Harriet was most happy to give every particular of the evening at Astley's, and the dinner the next day; she could dwell on it all with the utmost delight." }, { "from": "human", "value": "But what did such particulars explain?" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The fact was, as Emma could now acknowledge, that Harriet had always liked Robert Martin; and that his continuing to love her had been irresistible. Beyond this, it must ever be unintelligible to Emma.\n\nThe event, however, was most joyful; and every day was giving her fresh reason for thinking so. Harriet's parentage became known." }, { "from": "human", "value": "She proved to be the daughter of a tradesman, rich enough to afford her the comfortable maintenance which had ever been hers, and decent enough to have always wished for concealment." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Such was the blood of gentility which Emma had formerly been so ready to vouch for! It was likely to be as untainted, perhaps, as the blood of many a gentleman; but what a connection had she been preparing for Mr. Knightley, or for the Churchills, or even for Mr. Elton! The stain of illegitimacy, unbleached by nobility or wealth, would have been a stain indeed.\n\nNo objection was raised on the father's side; the young man was treated liberally; it was all as it should be: and as Emma became acquainted with Robert Martin, who was now introduced at Hartfield, she fully acknowledged on him all the appearance of sense and worth which could bid fairest for her little friend." }, { "from": "human", "value": "She had no doubt of Harriet's happiness with any good-tempered man; but with him, and in the home he offered, there would be the hope of more, of security, stability, and improvement." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "She would be placed in the midst of those who loved her, and who had better sense than herself; retired enough for safety, and occupied enough for cheerfulness. She would be never led into temptation, nor left for it to find her out. She would be respectable and happy; and Emma admitted her to be the luckiest creature in the world, to have created so steady and persevering an affection in such a man; or, if not quite the luckiest, to yield only to herself.\n\nHarriet, necessarily drawn away by her engagements with the Martins, was less and less at Hartfield, which was not to be regretted." }, { "from": "human", "value": "The intimacy between her and Emma must sink; their friendship must change into a calmer sort of goodwill; and, fortunately, what ought to be, and must be, seemed already beginning, and in the most gradual, natural manner." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Before the end of September, Emma attended Harriet to church, and saw her hand bestowed on Robert Martin with so complete a satisfaction, as no remembrances, even connected with Mr. Elton as he stood before them, could impair. Perhaps, indeed, at that time, she scarcely saw Mr. Elton, but as the clergyman whose blessing at the altar might next fall on herself. Robert Martin and Harriet Smith, the latest couple engaged of the three, were the first to be married.\n\nJane Fairfax had already quitted Highbury, and was restored to the comforts of her beloved home with the Campbells." }, { "from": "human", "value": "The Mr. Churchills were also in town; and they were only waiting for November." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The intermediate month was the one fixed on, as far as they dared, by Emma and Mr. Knightley. They had determined that their marriage ought to be concluded, while John and Isabella were still at Hartfield, to allow them the fortnight's absence in a tour to the seaside, which was the plan. John and Isabella, and every other friend, were agreed in approving it. But Mr. Woodhouse—how was Mr. Woodhouse to be induced to consent?—he, who had never yet alluded to their marriage but as a distant event." }, { "from": "human", "value": "When first sounded on the subject, he was so miserable, that they were almost hopeless." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "A second allusion, indeed, gave less pain. He began to think it was to be, and that he could not prevent it—a very promising step of the mind on its way to resignation. Still, however, he was not happy. Nay, he appeared so much otherwise, that his daughter's courage failed." }, { "from": "human", "value": "She could not bear to see him suffering, to know him fancying himself neglected; and though her understanding almost acquiesced in the assurance of both the Mr. Knightleys, that when once the event were over, his distress would be soon over too, she hesitated—she could not proceed." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "In this state of suspense, they were befriended, not by any sudden illumination of Mr. Woodhouse's mind, or any wonderful change of his nervous system, but by the operation of the same system in another way. Mrs. Weston's poultry-house was robbed one night of all her turkeys,—evidendy by the ingenuity of man. Other poultry-yards in the neighbourhood also suffered. Pilfering was house-breaking to Mr. Woodhouse's fears." }, { "from": "human", "value": "He was very uneasy; and but for the sense of his son-in-law's protection, would have been under wretched alarm every night of his life." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The strength, resolution, and presence of mind of the Mr. Knightleys, commanded his fullest dependence. While either of them protected him and his, Hartfield was safe. But Mr. John Knightley must be in London again by the end of the first week in November.\n\nThe result of this distress was, that, with a much more voluntary, cheerful consent, than his daughter had ever presumed to hope for at the moment, she was able to fix her wedding-day; and Mr. Elton was called on, within a month from the marriage of Mr. and Mrs. Robert Martin, to join the hands of Mr. Knightley and Miss Woodhouse." }, { "from": "human", "value": "The wedding was very much like other weddings, where the parties have no taste for finery or parade; and Mrs. Elton, from the particulars detailed by her husband, thought it all extremely shabby, and very inferior to her own." }, { "from": "system", "value": "Next message should be approximately 2 sentences." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Very little white satin, very few lace veils; a most pitiful business! Selina would stare when she heard of it.\" But, in spite of these deficiencies, the wishes, the hopes, the confidence, the predictions of the small band of true friends who witnessed the ceremony, were fully answered in the perfect happiness of the union." } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Today you will be acting as a writing assistant, your partner will send something and you will write the next four sentences." }, { "from": "human", "value": "I sit in the chair at the far corner of the crowded room." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "I'm one of twenty or so people laying claim for the day to an off-white lounger backed up to one of the room's only two windows. If I turn my head, I can see the very large Bradford pear loaded with white blooms at the corner of the building. The petals remind me that it's spring. Which reminds me that this is the time of year when I would be running in Central Park." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Getting in shape for a marathon." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Or riding my bike for a 50-miler.\n\nThinking of myself as the person who had done those things seems as if I must be dreaming. That person isn't me. Did I ever do that?" }, { "from": "human", "value": "I turn my head away from the window and catch a glimpse of the mirror hanging on the wall across from my chair." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "I see the skeleton of a man reflected there. His face is thin, and it has a grayish tint. He has no eyebrows and no eyelashes.\n\nWith a jolt, I realize that man is me." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Next to me in the mirror is a silver stand from which hangs a plastic bag." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "It drips its slow poison through a skinny plastic tube that connects to a needle that connects to a tortured vein in my right arm. I watch the bag empty its contents drop by drop by drop, aware that I am being filled with a chemical weaponry smart enough to kill the dividing cells in my body. Apparently, cancer cells divide more often than normal cells, the theory being that chemotherapy is much more likely to kill them.\n\nSome part of me knows that the reason I look the way I do is because normal cells are dying too." }, { "from": "human", "value": "After all, I do look like I'm dying." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Which, in reality, I guess I am.\n\nI wonder if the medicine – I loathe using that term for it – is winning the battle or losing it. My guess is losing. Who could declare the way I feel a win?" }, { "from": "human", "value": "I've been at this for six weeks, and with every passing day, I know the life is seeping from me." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Something outside the window catches my eye. I look. It's a bike in the parking lot. A cyclist in a helmet and skinny pants and a racing shirt. He aims a key at a nearby car, locks it and climbs on the bike." }, { "from": "human", "value": "He pedals off, as if he doesn't have a care in the world, and I am hit with such envy it feels like acid eating a hole in the center of my heart." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "What is it they say about health? You don't appreciate it until you don't have it. It couldn't be any more true.\n\nEven after I'd been told I have leukemia, the words wouldn't sink in." }, { "from": "human", "value": "I didn't feel sick." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Maybe I had been a little more tired than usual, but I worked all the time. Everyone in my office was tired.\n\nThe doctor recommended I come in the following day to map out a treatment plan. I couldn't imagine what that would be. Pills? Shots?" }, { "from": "human", "value": "It never occurred to me that I would become a patient who spent his days in a room with other patients just like him." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "That I would lose my hair, my eyebrows, my eyelashes. That I would drop forty pounds and that people would fail to recognize me in places I frequented and was known, like the grocery store and a bookstore on my street.\n\nIt was as if once I was told I was sick, I was.\n\nIn the chair closest to me, I hear a woman sigh, a long, pain-filled sigh that ties my heart in a knot." }, { "from": "human", "value": "I don't want to look at her, but I do, and tears spring to my eyes, blurring my vision." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "I blink them away and ask her if she is all right. She lets her gaze meet mine, and I see in her eyes what she already knows. She will not survive this. If I look like I'm losing the battle, she looks as if the other side has already won." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Our gazes lock, and there is nothing but truth between us." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "I let her see I know what she knows. I want to cry for her, but she does not want me to. All around us are other patients in various stages of fight and defeat. I want to cry for us all, for the fact that the only hope that can be given to us is something that does its best to destroy us." }, { "from": "human", "value": "The woman closes her eyes, leans her head back and I force my gaze to the window where the cyclist is now gone, riding off to spend a couple of hours challenging his body, his healthy body, as I once had." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "A nurse walks into the room, asks if she can do anything for anyone. I feel the response rising up out of me, like a tsunami wave cresting from the ocean floor. There is nothing I can do to stop it. \"Yes,\" I say, the word emerging loud and adamant." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Take this out, please.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "She walks over with a look on her face that says she has heard this before. \"Now, Mr. Walker. You're not finished yet. It won't be too much longer.\"\n\n\"I am finished,\" I say.\n\nShe smiles an indulgent smile, turns and walks away." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"It'll be over soon.\"" }, { "from": "system", "value": "Now write approximately 5 sentences." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Rage flows over me in a red wave. I stare at the needle in my arm, and I know I'm done. I lift the tape that secures it above my vein, ignoring the instant pinch and yank it from my arm. I stand and leave the flowing tube of poison dripping onto the chair seat.\n\nThe woman next to me opens her eyes then, looks at me with approval, and I leave the room with a roar of anger choking in my throat." } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Write 4 sentences sentences in the style of Inglath Cooper spawning from what the user wrote." }, { "from": "human", "value": "I order coffee and bring myself fully awake now, sitting on the balcony and staring out at the ocean where the waves are tame this morning." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The sun is up, tinting the sky with pink. And the birds are singing their songs of happiness, sometimes solo, sometimes in unison.\n\nI've finished my third cup before I cease the self-flagellation, grateful that Anders had let himself out.\n\nIt would be hard to blame him for wanting to avoid an uncomfortable exit." }, { "from": "human", "value": "I try to remember everything I said to him when we were on the beach, and there are some definite blanks." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "I would very much like to kick myself.\n\nI could hide out in the room all day. Take every precaution to make sure I don't run into Anders Walker again. Which won't be easy, true." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Or check for an afternoon flight back to New York." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "I give both options a good bit of consideration before I dismiss each of them.\n\nI hear my phone ring through the crack in the doors between the bedroom and the balcony.\n\nWhen had I turned it back on? I have no idea." }, { "from": "human", "value": "I could ignore it." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "But I don't. I get up and grab it from the nightstand by the bed. It's a FaceTime call, and I click on the icon, James's face filling my screen.\n\n\"Oh, thank God, you're alive,\" he says.\n\n\"Sorry,\" I say, trying to sound as if I really am." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"I should have told you where I was going.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"You think?\"\n\n\"I know,\" I admit on a sigh.\n\n\"What the heck, Catherine?\"\n\n\"I wanted to turn forty alone.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"You knew about the surprise party?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"I got wind of it.\"\n\n\"I figured.\"\n\n\"How was it?\"\n\n\"A blast, actually. We set a picture of you in the center of the food table and sang happy birthday to it.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "A laugh sputters out of me. \"You did not.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Did too. No point in wasting a good catering.\"\n\n\"I'm sorry. Really.\"\n\nHe shrugs. \"I should have asked you if you wanted the party.\"\n\n\"If I weren't such a control freak-\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"You wouldn't be CEO of ActivGirl.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"I'd have a lot more friends though.\"\n\n\"You have me.\"\n\n\"And I need to do a better job of showing how much I appreciate that.\"\n\n\"You show it. I liked my last bonus.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Mercenary.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Hey, a guy's gotta eat.\"\n\n\"You do eat well.\"\n\n\"So what'd you do last night? Blow out your candles alone?\"\n\n\"I didn't have any candles.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"No one should spend their fortieth by themselves.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Actually... I didn't.\"\n\nHe sits up in the desk chair. \"You didn't?\"\n\n\"I went out to dinner.\"\n\n\"With someone you met there?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "I shrug, nod once." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Well, all right. It's about time.\"\n\n\"Oh, don't get too excited. After I got drunk and made a fool of myself on the beach, I'm sure he'll do his best to avoid me.\"\n\n\"I've never seen you drunk. Are you a fun drunk or a mean drunk?\"\n\n\"A sloppy drunk, I'm afraid.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Sloppy can be fun,\" he says." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Or just plain embarrassing.\"\n\n\"I'm glad you decided to take this trip, Cat. It's definitely time to see what else is out there for you. Life needs to go on.\"\n\n\"He was just being nice because it was my birthday.\"\n\n\"Nothing wrong with that.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "He hesitates, and I can see there's something he wants to say." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"What is it, James?\"\n\n\"Your sister called yesterday and tried to get me to tell her where you are. Of course I didn't know at the time so I couldn't tell her, but she seemed upset. And very much wanted to talk to you.\"\n\n\"Did she say why?\"\n\nJames shakes his head." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"And I would ask where you are, but if you don't tell me, I can't accidentally let it slip.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Should I come back?\" The question is out before I realize I even intended to ask it.\n\n\"No,\" he says immediately. \"We got this here for now. You do some you time. It's long overdue. If anything catastrophic looks like it's going to happen, I'll be the first to call you.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Part of me wants to protest, insist that I should just get back to real life because we both know this isn't me." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Even so, I don't want to leave just yet. Something about this place makes me want to forget about the life I've made in New York and the never-ceasing demands of an always hungry to grow business.\n\n\"Okay,\" I say. \"I'll leave my phone on for the rest of the trip.\"\n\n\"That much I will ask of you. I've been in a state of panic.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"I'm sorry.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Just unwind and come back to us revved up and revived.\"\n\nI smile, even as my stomach dips at the thought of the workload that will be waiting for me. \"Tall order. I'll try.\"\n\nWe click off, and I'm newly grateful for my assistant and his loyalty." } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Continue with the same vibes as Inglath Cooper" }, { "from": "human", "value": "The nurse is a woman in her fifties who has clearly seen more sadness than any human should have to process." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "I see this in her eyes as she puts a hand on my shoulder and directs me down a short hallway to the bed where my sister lies, still as death.\n\n\"She's in a coma, as you know,\" she says, her voice soft and sympathetic.\n\n\"Can she hear us?\" I ask.\n\n\"Many people think the answer to that is yes.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"What do you think?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "I look at her, wanting to see her answer as well as hear it.\n\n\"I've had patients tell me they did have awareness when they were unconscious. And I have to say, there were some memories voiced to me that I knew to be accurate.\"\n\nI don't know whether to feel comforted by this or alarmed by the thought that Nicole might be aware of where she is and what has happened to her.\n\n\"I try to tell family,\" the nurse says, empathy underlining her words, \"that the important thing is to just be present. Let them know you're here. Sit with her. The doctors are limiting her visits to fifteen minutes. I'll be back, okay?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "I nod, trying to thank her, but I can't make any words come out." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "She walks away, heading back down the hallway to the front desk.\n\nIt is only when I am alone that I let myself fully look at my sister. I cannot stop the sob that rises up out of me. I sit, collapse, onto the chair next to the bed." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Her skin is so pale it is as if all the blood has been drained from her body." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Her arms lie to her sides, her palms flat against the mattress. The tube inserted in her mouth is hooked to a machine that helps her breathe. The sound it makes is a soft whoosh-risp, over and over again, that reminds me with each intake that it is the machine keeping her alive.\n\nI sit, staring at her." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Not a single word comes to me." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The only thing that comes to my mind is Why? Why have you done this to yourself? Why did you betray me?\n\nThey are not questions I can ask." } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Today you will be acting as a writing assistant, your partner will send something and you will write the next four sentences." }, { "from": "human", "value": "'When you are Real you don't mind being hurt.'" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "'Does it happen all at once, like being wound up,' he asked, 'or bit by bit?'\n\n'It doesn't happen all at once,' said the Skin Horse. 'You become. It takes a long time. That's why it doesn't happen often to people who break easily, or have sharp edges, or who have to be carefully kept. Generally, by the time you are Real, most of your hair has been loved off, and your eyes drop out and you get loose in the joints and very shabby. But these things don't matter at all, because once you are Real you can't be ugly, except to people who don't understand.\"\n\n― Margery Williams Bianco, The Velveteen Rabbit\n\n[ Catherine ]" }, { "from": "human", "value": "My dad is waiting beside my mom when I come out of the ICU." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The nurse who had shown me in had kindly, but firmly, told me I would have to leave when my allotted time was up. I could see that she would let me stay had it been up to her, but I didn't want to put her in that position.\n\nAs soon as my dad sees me, he starts to cry, and then I'm crying, too, and we're all hugging each other, our arms forming a circle of support like pillars under a bridge.\n\nI can't remember if I've ever seen my dad cry, and the sound of his broken heart deepens the cracks in my own." }, { "from": "human", "value": "It's then I know I have to tell them the truth about what happened between Nicole and me." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "I don't want to, but they deserve to know that I have a part to play in the reason she is here.\n\nI pull back and look at them both. \"Can we go somewhere private? There's something I have to tell you.\"\n\n\"Of course, honey,\" Dad says in a shaky voice." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Mom leads the way down the hall and to the far end of the corridor where a small waiting area is marked for visitors of ICU patients." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "There's no one else there, and as we step inside, I close the door behind us.\n\n\"What is it, Cat?\" Mom asks, and I can see she is worried there is something more horrible to absorb, and maybe there is. One daughter who no longer wants to live." }, { "from": "human", "value": "And another with a heart of stone." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "I walk over to the window and look out across the road between the hospital and the water. I fold my arms across my chest, not sure I can hold back the dam of remorse waiting to spill out of me. The silence in the room becomes so loud that I have to get the words out. They are poison in my soul." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"It's my fault she's here.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "I say the words without turning around. I can't face them.\n\nMy mom's voice is a whisper. \"What do you mean, honey?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "My dad walks over, puts his hand on my shoulder and slowly turns me to face them." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Catherine. You love your sister. You've always loved her.\"\n\nA sob rises in my throat, and I can no longer keep it inside me. \"We haven't talked to each other in a long time... something happened.\"\n\n\"What?\" Mom implores." }, { "from": "human", "value": "The agony in her voice makes me realize I can no longer keep any of it from them." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Maybe I should have told them long ago. Maybe they could have helped Nicole and me find our way back.\n\n\"Connor and Nicole had an affair.\"\n\nMy dad takes a step back and drops onto a chair by the window." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Neither of us says anything, the silence in the room thick with shock." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "I wait for them to absorb what I have said. There is nothing to add to soften it. The truth is an ugly fact.\n\n\"Oh, Cat,\" Mom says. \"Why?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "I shake my head." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"It doesn't matter now. Obviously, Connor and I had problems I didn't recognize.\"\n\n\"How could they?\" Mom's voice is a sob.\n\n\"I don't know,\" I admit on a broken note. \"But is my sin of unforgiveness worse than their sin of betrayal? That's the question I've been asking myself.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Catherine,\" my dad says, disbelief underlining my name." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"No one would blame you.\"\n\n\"I blame me. She's reached out to me numerous times. Asked me to forgive her.\"\n\nMy mom starts to cry again. She walks to the window and stares out, her shoulders shaking." }, { "from": "human", "value": "I wish I knew what to say to comfort her. My dad. Myself." }, { "from": "system", "value": "Your next one should be approximately two sentences." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Forty years on this earth, and there is something I know with complete certainty. There are things that happen to us for which there simply is no comfort to be had." } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Write 4 sentences sentences in the style of Emma Woodcock spawning from what the user wrote." }, { "from": "system", "value": "Produce a starting prompt please." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "As Kikimora arrived back at Dmitri's little house she could see the welcoming glow of firelight through the shutters, smoke curling away from his chimney into the blustery night. She paid no attention to a smart carriage clipping down the narrow street, until it pulled up outside his house.\n\nA liveried footman climbed down from the bench and opened the carriage door. There was some puffing and sighing, the carriage swayed alarmingly, and finally a richly dressed lady climbed down into the street." }, { "from": "human", "value": "She was of middle years and exceedingly broad." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "She was followed by a lady's maid who cradled a basket in one hand, and with the other knocked timidly on the door. There was no answer from within, so the lady stepped forward and rapped with her own large fist.\n\nDmitri opened the door in his shirt sleeves. \"Mrs Olgakov. What a surprise.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Kikimora thought his voice held as much dismay as surprise." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Surreptitiously, he rolled down his shirt cuffs, and attempted to smooth his hair – though without success.\n\nThe lady beamed. \"Mr Rachmanov, I'm so glad to find you at home.\" She swept into the room, swiftly followed by her maid and by Kikimora. Her sharp gaze took in the bare furniture, the cracked tiles, and a half empty bottle of vodka standing on the table beside sheaves of ink-stained papers." }, { "from": "human", "value": "She ignored Dmitri's offer of a seat, and stood before the small stove." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"It is altogether far too long since you joined us at supper,\" she announced, her tone at once accusing and rather flirtatious.\n\nDmitri began to stammer an apology. He found Mrs Olgakov a little overwhelming at the best of times, but recalling his father's advice that one of her daughters would make an admirable wife caused him to trip over his words with embarrassment.\n\nMrs Olgakov's smooth voice swept over his like butter over bread." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"We must remedy this situation at your earliest convenience, don't you think?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He had time only to make some polite but non-committal noises before Mrs Olgakov continued, \"And you must play for us again. The girls would be thrilled. Do you know, my Seraphina has taken up the spinet, and I think you will find that she is already quite accomplished.\"\n\n\"Oh?\" said Dmitri politely.\n\n\"The two of you must duet! Oh, say you will, Mr Rachmanov?\"\n\nDmitri smiled in a strained manner, eventually realising that his visitor had stopped speaking for long enough this time that she expected an answer." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"It would be my honour and pleasure.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Then shall we say Sunday?\"\n\n\"Ah,\" sighed Dmitri. \"If only I could. But I regret I have a prior engagement this Sunday.\"\n\nMrs Olgakov looked put out for only a moment, before deciding on a date a few weeks later. \"My dear boy, you need looking after.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "She leaned closer, and said with some significance, \"You need a wife. This place is not fit for one of your filthy miners.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Dmitri gave a weak smile, wondering if his father had already spoken to Mrs Olgakov.\n\n\"Since clearly no one looks after you, I took it upon myself to bring you some supper.\" She gestured to her lady's maid, who lifted an earthenware casserole from the basket. \"Here are some pork dumplings made in my own kitchen this morning, and I assure you they are quite delicious. We must feed you up. You are likely to waste away at this rate.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "After she had left, Dmitri sank groaning into his chair, and knocked back the remainder of his vodka." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Well,\" he murmured. \"Father will be pleased, at least.\"\n\nHe picked up his papers once more, but looked at them for only a few minutes before his gaze was diverted back to the casserole. The dumplings were cold, but smelled very good. Kikimora too found herself craning forward to sniff the pot." }, { "from": "human", "value": "It would have been the work of a few minutes to warm them at the stove, but Dmitri picked one of the cold dumplings up in his ink-stained fingers, and popped it whole into his mouth." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He rapidly ate several more while continuing to study his papers.\n\nKikimora hovered behind him, covetously eyeing the dumplings, and hoping he might leave one or two. He was so engrossed in his papers she doubted he would notice her taking one now; but she didn't quite dare risk it.\n\nShe knew from her studies that the best time to unnerve a man was in the still hours of the night, when every safe, familiar thing seems remote and obscure." }, { "from": "human", "value": "A simple trick may take on ominous overtones at this time, where in the waking hours rational explanations can more readily be found." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Therefore, she did not spend her energies in disturbing his evening, but was content to bide her time until the night.\n\nDmitri closed the folder with heavy finality. He drained his latest glass of vodka, and went upstairs to bed. Kikimora waited only a few moments before pouncing on the casserole and helping herself to the remaining food." }, { "from": "human", "value": "She hadn't eaten since the day before, and Mrs Olgakov, however overbearing her manner, was right about one thing; the dumplings were delicious." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "When she had eaten, Kikimora inspected Dmitri's small collection of cutlery, selecting a long copper ladle. Above the stove hung two iron pans, one large and one small. She swung the ladle against the smaller pan. The resultant clang was quite a timorous sound, but it seemed horribly loud to Kikimora, its chime carrying in the still kitchen, and only gradually dying away." }, { "from": "human", "value": "She waited for any movement or shouts of alarm from upstairs." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "But there was nothing, and so after a moment she struck the pan again, clang. She beat the larger pot, which gave off a far more impressive and resonant, bong.\n\nThe floorboards creaked in the room above. Dmitri appeared at the top of the stairs, his candle illuminating little more than his face and pale linen nightshirt. \"Hello?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Kikimora threw the ladle down on the floor, retreating to a corner." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Is someone there?\" As he descended the stairs, Dmitri's gaze fell on Mrs Olgakov's casserole, its lid awry, and the insides picked clean. \"Hmm,\" he said thoughtfully, glancing once more around the room.\n\nKikimora pressed herself back into the shadowy corner. It had been fun to tease Feodor outside the mine entrance when she had the whole forest to run and hide in." }, { "from": "human", "value": "But it was different in Dmitri's small house." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Although she was accomplished at going unnoticed, she felt suddenly trapped and wary.\n\nDmitri stooped to retrieve the ladle, hanging it back upon its hook. He unlatched the front door, looking up and down the empty street. \"Hmm,\" he said again, a frown settling on his brow." }, { "from": "human", "value": "He held the candle high, peering into the empty corners of the room, then returned upstairs." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Kikimora waited until he had climbed back into his bed and extinguished the candle. Soon his breathing took on the regular rhythm of sleep. She seized the ladle once more and began to beat a primitive tune upon the two pans, clang-clang bong clang bong-bong clang!\n\nAt once Dmitri leapt from his bed and down the stairs." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Who's there?\" he said, wielding the pewter candlestick threateningly. \"Make yourself known.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He peered into the darkness, making occasional feints with the candlestick, jumping at imagined sounds.\n\nWhile he lunged suddenly towards the stove, Kikimora smacked the back of his head with the ladle. He cried out, and spun round, sweeping the candlestick before him, jabbing at his unseen assailant.\n\nKikimora retreated to the stairs, watching him dance and lunge across the kitchen." }, { "from": "human", "value": "At last it seemed that no further assault was forthcoming, and he cautiously set down the candlestick, while fumbling with his tinder box." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "It took a moment for him to conjure a light. Once the candle was lit he held it aloft, peering again all around the kitchen – which appeared to be quite empty.\n\nHe ran a hand through his hair, muttering profanities. At last he returned upstairs, but the candle remained lit, and his breath irregular." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Kikimora took the empty vodka bottle from the table and dropped it on the floor." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Again Dmitri appeared on the stairs. He descended cautiously, the lighted candle held before him.\n\nObserving the shattered bottle he murmured that some devilry was surely at work here. \"Begone!\" he said. \"Whatever you are. Leave me be.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "He swept the debris into the corner of the room, only once yelping as he trod on a piece of broken glass." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Cursing and growling he kindled a blaze in the stove, then returned upstairs momentarily to fetch a blanket and a book. Settling himself before the stove, he began to read. Every so often he glanced up from his book, checking that all was as it should be. It wasn't long before his eyes began to close." }, { "from": "human", "value": "His head drooped onto his chest and the book fell shut on his lap." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Kikimora crept out once more from behind the stove. The blanket was tucked up tight around his head, but his feet poked free. She waited until he had slipped into a steady sleep before darting forward and whipping off his socks. He only twitched and grumbled, but didn't wake." }, { "from": "human", "value": "She threw his socks inside the stove, then softly drew a finger down his instep." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "At the first stroke, Dmitri's foot twitched; at the second he twitched again, and gave a little giggle in his sleep. The third time, he leapt on top of his chair with a cry.\n\nHe demanded to know what the unseen presence wanted with him, cursed it colourfully, then retrieved the smoking embers of his socks. At last, grumbling, he settled down once more before the stove." }, { "from": "human", "value": "It was a long night, both for Dmitri and Kikimora." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "She lost count of how many times she disturbed his sleep, but at last her own exhaustion was overwhelming, and she lay down behind the still warm stove.\n\nIt seemed that no more than a moment passed before Mrs Zubrev threw the door open, letting in the sharp winter wind. Dmitri grumbled from deep within the blanket. His housekeeper regarded him without pity." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Did you forget the way to your bed?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "she asked, banging open the shutters.\n\nHe groaned, recoiling from the cold and light. As he came to full wakefulness, he leapt from his seat, throwing off the blanket. Mrs Zubrev exclaimed at the sight of his bare legs, and threw a hand before her eyes." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Mrs Zubrev, you were right!\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "he said. \"There is something in here – some presence. It has tormented me throughout the night, so that I barely slept. It burned my favourite socks!\"\n\n\"And did it take your sense of decency? For the love of God, boy, cover yourself up.\"\n\nDmitri muttered an apology, gathering the blanket around himself once more. \"So what do you think, Mrs Zubrev? What must I do?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"First you must wash your face,\" the housekeeper told him." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Find a clean shirt, if you can. I believe I bought you two back from the laundry on Monday.\"\n\n\"About the… thing?\"\n\nMrs Zubrev took up a brush, and began to clear the pile of ashes and broken glass from the corner of the room. \"There are a few methods you might try,\" she said." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Firstly you could burn dried grasses and cow dung in every corner of the house, saying the Lord's prayer and chewing garlic. That might discourage them. Or, of course, it might just make them angry. If that doesn't work, you can make an effigy of river clay and fresh wheat – as fresh as you can find it, at any rate. Take it to the church and have the Father bless it, and then you must bury it beneath the threshold.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Do you know what it is then?\" Dmitri asked. \"What is causing all this upset?\"\n\n\"Household spirits,\" said Mrs Zubrev. \"Or call them Satan's imps. They're one and the same.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"But I understood household spirits could be befriended, and then would help around the house and protect it from evil?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Mrs Zubrev crossed herself. \"Once, people thought so – before they correctly understood the teachings of our Lord.\"\n\n\"Suppose someone did want to appease the spirits. They would leave out a dish of milk, perhaps?\"\n\nMrs Zubrev gave him a sharp look." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"In the old days people left out bread and salt. Sometimes a small glass of good wine. They spoke kindly to the spirits and treated them with respect.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Dmitri poured himself a glass of milk and asked why it was no longer done. Mrs Zubrev said it wasn't proper, Christian behaviour, and could only lead to troubles and ungodliness. Taking a gulp of the milk, Dmitri grimaced and spat it onto the floor.\n\n\"It is never off?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Mrs Zubrev asked. \"I brought it in fresh on Monday.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Dmitri sniffed the pot uncertainly, and offered it to the housekeeper to judge. She waved it away, saying she'd trust his senses. \"So, it has soured your milk. You still want to tame this spirit? Or drive it back to Hell?\"\n\nDmitri left soon afterwards, and Kikimora followed." }, { "from": "human", "value": "A brisk wind brought down flurries of ice crystals, flinging them at her face, and snatching her skirt out behind her." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "But the cold revived her a little. Arriving at the mine, she managed to pass entire minutes without yawning.\n\nGetting straight to work, she tripped a boy carrying candles, threw snow on the blacksmith's brazier, and loosened the cord on a man's breeches, so that they fell around his ankles. While his companions laughed and whistled, Kikimora noticed a boy standing outside Dmitri's office." }, { "from": "human", "value": "He took a moment to smooth his hair, then he dusted his shirt cuffs, squared his shoulders, and knocked on the door." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Enter,\" Dmitri called.\n\nKikimora slipped inside behind the boy, who said, \"If you please, Sir, my uncle Feliks-\"\n\n\"Sergei, isn't it? Have a seat.\"\n\nThe boy nodded, and sat on a wooden stool." }, { "from": "human", "value": "He didn't fidget as Feliks had, but sat still and straight-backed, looking steadily ahead." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "When Dmitri asked, the boy told him he was fourteen years old. He had been working at Yanochka for the past eight years; two below ground.\n\n\"Your uncle said that you can read?\"\n\n\"A little. My Uncle Matthias is a clerk. He taught me some.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Dmitri said he was lucky to have so many uncles interested in his welfare." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Yes, Sir,\" the boy agreed. He began to cough suddenly, and his thin body shook with the force of it. It took a moment for him to master his breathing, then he quickly wiped his eyes, murmuring an apology.\n\nKikimora knew little of boys, but she thought it unusual for one to be so calm and self assured." }, { "from": "human", "value": "The other boys she saw around the mine charged about like the whirling dervishes Barinya had once told her of." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "They shouted and fought, even as they carried out their work. Sergei had a stillness and thoughtfulness that made him seem older than 14, despite his smooth cheeks and unimpressive height.\n\n\"You've been below ground this morning? Feliks says it's the damp that gets in your lungs. I've seen it before. It will improve if you stay above ground.\"\n\n\"Yes, Sir.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Other than that you are fit?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Strong enough to work beside Uncle Feliks twelve hours straight.\" There was pride in Sergei's voice, and an upward tilt to his chin.\n\nDmitri considered a moment. He began to speak, then broke off in a huge yawn." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"I must apologise,\" he said." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"I had a most disturbed night. Would you be so good as to make some tea?\"\n\nSergei crossed to the table where the samovar and the tea caddy sat. He cleaned out the fuel chamber, and added new kindling. He measured out a spoonful of tea, being careful to spill none onto the table." }, { "from": "human", "value": "He poured in the water and set the fuel smouldering with a coal from the fire." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Then he carried the samovar and a small glass cup to Dmitri's desk. \"Is there anything else, Sir?\"\n\n\"Another cup.\"\n\nDmitri asked Sergei more about his family, and what kind of work he had done." }, { "from": "human", "value": "When the tea was ready he told Sergei to pour them each a cup, which the boy did without spilling any on Dmitri's papers." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Dmitri blew on his tea, and took a scorching sip. He sighed, letting his eyes close momentarily. \"That's good,\" he said. After a few more sips he sat back, regarding the boy thoughtfully." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"How would you like to be apprenticed to me?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"To you, Sir?\"\n\n\"To learn gunpowder manufacture.\"\n\nThe boy opened his mouth, and closed it again, his composure finally rattled. \"It would be an honour. I never thought-I mean-Thank you, Sir. I won't let you down. When can I start? Now?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Tomorrow. It will be a trial period. We'll see how it works out.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Yes, Sir. Thank you, Sir. You won't regret it.\"\n\nThe boy almost collided with Boris in the doorway. But he leapt smartly out of the way, saying, \"Begging your pardon, Sir,\" and strode away across the enclosure looking six inches taller.\n\n\"Well,\" said Boris, brows raised enquiringly." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"You have one happy employee, at least.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Dmitri's smile melted away. \"What now?\"\n\n\"I think the whole town is drunk,\" Boris said. \"Accidents, mishaps, mistakes by the dozen. Now I've heard some of the men muttering about evil spirits, and saying the mine is haunted!\" He delivered this news as though expecting to raise a laugh, but Dmitri looked troubled, rubbing his forehead and taking a long drink of tea." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"It's just a run of bad luck,\" Boris said." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"The long winter is making everyone tired and cross. If spring would only come I am sure our fortunes would change.\"\n\nDmitri nodded without much conviction, then glanced up, hearing something odd. It sounded very much like someone yawning and trying not to - but the sound came from the corner of the room where stood nothing but a cupboard. Boris too glanced that way, then shrugged, saying, \"Creaking boards.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "He asked what the boy was so happy about, and Dmitri told him that he had a new apprentice." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Does your father know about that? Hasn't he always been protective of his secrets?\"\n\n\"It is not practical that only one man should understand the gunpowder. It is a dangerous craft, and accidents can happen to the best of us.\"\n\nBoris nodded sombrely. \"True enough.\"\n\n\"If anything were to happen to me, there should be someone else to keep manufacturing the powder. Besides,\" Dmitri added." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"The lad needs to work grass-side, for his lungs.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He bent over his papers once more so that he wouldn't have to see Boris' disapproving frown.\n\n\"An apprentice is fair enough,\" Boris said. \"But leave charity to the town's rich matrons.\"\n\nWhen he went back out to the yard, Kikimora followed." }, { "from": "human", "value": "The office was too small and crowded to hide in for long – particularly if she couldn't stop yawning." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Boris took out his pipe, and began to fill it from a leather pouch at his belt. When he came to light it, Kikimora darted forward and blew out the flame. He struck his flint again, and managed to light the tobacco, but she dropped a pinch of snow into the pipe, extinguishing it with a wet hiss.\n\nBoris began to grumble." }, { "from": "human", "value": "While he knocked the wet tobacco out of the pipe, she slipped the flint from his pocket and ran, laughing, into the trees." }, { "from": "system", "value": "Next message should be approximately 1 sentence." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "As she looked around for a good place to hide it, a voice spoke up behind her, \"My name's Zoria. What's yours?\"" } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Task: The user will write a bit then you need to write around four sentences continuing directly from the user's text.\n\nAuthor style: Emma Woodcock" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Can I call you a friend?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Dmitri asked. \"Or is that presumptuous of me? In any case, I must thank you for waking me this evening. It is not the way I would choose to wake every day, but it was certainly effective.\" He listened for any response, then sighed and said, \"You know, you might want to find someone better to haunt. Haven't you heard that I am good for nothing?\"\n\nFor a time he was silent, head resting against the side of the carriage, bumping and juddering as they rolled down the track. Kikimora thought he had fallen asleep, his breath coming shallow and even." }, { "from": "human", "value": "She was startled when he murmured, \"I do try, you know.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "His eyes remained closed. He might have been talking to himself. \"I do my best to be the son he wants, but somehow it is not enough.\"\n\nIt was late when they reached Dmitri's house." }, { "from": "human", "value": "He went straight to his bed, groaned as he discovered his still sodden bedding - then collapsed onto it anyway, and was asleep in moments." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Kikimora yawned, and paced across the kitchen. She noticed the hanging pans, and supposed she ought to start making a racket. But the next moment she had become distracted, thinking about the kind, scarred lady, and how sad she seemed, yet how patient. She wished Yana wasn't so sad." }, { "from": "human", "value": "She found herself humming one of the songs Yana and Dmitri had played, and laughing to herself as she recalled Dmitri comparing Cecile Olgakov's singing with the death throes of an elderly and unwell cat." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "It had been an evening unlike any she had previously experienced: the warm, teasing conversation, the music and singing. She had eaten delicacies she had never encountered before: guinea fowl and strawberry pavlova, and (after he had fallen asleep) Stanislav's rich, dark wine.\n\nIn the room above, Dmitri began to snore once more. He had called her friend." }, { "from": "human", "value": "That seemed very odd to Kikimora after she had spent the week tormenting him." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "She told herself he was a fool, and she would soon set him straight on the matter. But all the same she found that she liked the sound of it, friend. No one had ever called her that before. She glanced again at the pans, but such a cacophony seemed unthinkable after the gentle, calming spinet music she had listened to all evening." }, { "from": "human", "value": "There was another way to disturb his sleep, of course; one that she had not yet tried." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Anatoly had described the theory of dream sendings to her several times. But as she'd told the North Wind, she'd never encountered a suitable subject on which to try it.\n\nSilently, she climbed the stairs. The darkness was profound, but even so she could see the shape of the bed, and of Dmitri's form beneath the covers – his head at the end where his feet normally lay, and his feet tucked up to avoid the wet patch." }, { "from": "human", "value": "At her passing he flinched a little, muttering, and drawing his toes further in." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "She paused, motionless. But he was more asleep than not, and soon returned to his strident snoring. Kikimora settled herself against the wall. She allowed her breathing to quieten and slow. Loosening her grip on the physical world, she sought out the power within herself; the power of ice, of implacable winter, of the cold white moon and the frozen earth." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Dmitri murmured again, his legs twitching." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Kikimora's concentration faltered as he gave a sudden shudder, murmuring something into his pillow. It sounded like, \"No.\"\n\nThis was just the sort of reaction she would hope for – but she had not yet begun her sending. Whatever troubled Dmitri's sleep was his own doing." }, { "from": "human", "value": "She frowned and tried once more to settle into the state of deep concentration Anatoly had taught her." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Hoar frost crept outwards from her fingers, cracking and creaking its way across the wooden boards. Ice gathered along her lashes so that she could no longer see the bed and the sleeping man. She could feel him though. The heat of him radiated towards her, fierce and bright – and fearful." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Again, he thrashed against his covers, shouting unintelligibly into his pillow." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Kikimora fought to retain her concentration, even as she realised the futility of it. She was aiming to send him bad dreams, but he had saved her the trouble. She might as well return to the kitchen and go to sleep.\n\nBut she did not." }, { "from": "human", "value": "She shut out other thoughts, and reached towards him." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "This time she latched on to a tendril of his sleeping consciousness, feeling it wrap around her.\n\nAnatoly had warned her it would be a strange and disorienting experience, but she could not have anticipated quite how strange. She seemed to inhabit a dark and formless void. Shapes loomed suddenly before her, and were gone before she knew what they were." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Her heart began to beat rapidly, the breath to catch in her throat." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "She couldn't tell where her own feelings ended and Dmitri's began.\n\nNo! he said again - except that he didn't speak out loud. The word appeared in Kikimora's mind as though it was her own thought, clear and powerful.\n\nSomething stirred in the darkness before her, a huge shape looming closer." }, { "from": "human", "value": "At first Kikimora thought the feeling clawing at her stomach was fear, but that wasn't quite right." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "It took her a moment to recognise it as a queasy mixture of dread and regret.\n\nThe shape resolved itself into Stanislav Rachmanov, his old scars replaced with fresh wounds. A bandage pressed against his face, dark and stained. Kikimora felt herself wither, shame washing through her." }, { "from": "human", "value": "She wanted to escape the baleful glare of his one eye, but there was nowhere to go." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Where were you? I needed you, and you were not here. You did this to me.\n\nShe felt Dmitri shrink from the words, and she shrank with him, sharing his sense of worthlessness, of self reproach. But at the same time she recognised that it was unfair." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Yana had said as much." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "She didn't know what had caused Stanislav's accident, but she trusted Yana's judgement; it was not Dmitri's fault.\n\nShe pushed back, commanding Stanislav to leave. The confusion intensified around her. She sensed in the same strange way she felt Dmitri's feelings and heard his internal voice - this was a familiar dream, one that returned to him regularly." }, { "from": "human", "value": "But she was driving it off course." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Begone, she commanded, remembering Mrs Zubrev's attempted exorcism. You are not welcome here.\n\nStanislav began to retreat. Shame still infused the dream, but the feeling of dread began to ebb away." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Kikimora wished she could go to Dmitri, reach out a hand and touch him." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "But there was no physicality in the dream. Instead she tried to send calmness towards him, the way she might try to gentle a wounded creature she found in the forest.\n\nGradually she became aware of the physical world once more. Dmitri's breathing was calm and even." }, { "from": "human", "value": "He mumbled a little, but there was not the edge of panic she had heard before." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Kikimora stretched her aching limbs, causing hoar frost to crack and glitter around her. She climbed slowly to her feet, smiling as she crept back to the kitchen. The stove was cold, and the tiles seemed harder than ever after her night on Dmitri's straw mattress, but she lay down, and was asleep within a moment.\n\nDmitri rose early next morning, washing and dressing himself more carefully than he often did." }, { "from": "human", "value": "As he ate a little bread he commented to his household spirit how welcome and refreshing it was to have two peaceful nights sleep; he hoped this meant they had reached some sort of understanding." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Kikimora silently cursed herself. She had successfully entered Dmitri's dreams, just as Anatoly had taught her. His own nightmare was a gift; she should have embellished it, added new horrors to the story. But instead she had pitied him, and sent the nightmare away." }, { "from": "human", "value": "She recalled the North Wind saying he had seen more frightening bunny rabbits." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Even Barinya had said she was soft hearted. But Barinya also said her heart was the best thing about her. Kikimora trusted Barinya on most matters, but struggled to see how the cat could be right in this.\n\nWhen he reached the church, Dmitri did not at once go inside, but lingered in the square, exchanging pleasantries with other townspeople." }, { "from": "human", "value": "After a few moments, the green coach pulled up, and Yana climbed stiffly down." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Dmitri kissed her cheek, telling her how fine she looked.\n\nYana grimaced, muttering that she could hardly breathe in her gown. \"It is one of mother's old dresses, and she was more delicately built than I am.\"\n\n\"Well it is very becoming.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"That's what Father said, and he insisted I wear it.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "She shook her head at such foolishness, and added that Vitali was charged with summoning a seamstress from town, to spruce up her dresses, \"And to make some new ones in the latest styles! I fear his wits are going.\"\n\n\"Nonsense,\" laughed Dmitri. \"What man wouldn't want to see his daughter looking her finest?\" Yana gave him a scornful look, and he admitted that it was indeed a little out of character for their father.\n\n\"And he would not allow me to ride! I even said I would go side-saddle. Nothing would do but that I must take the coach.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Again she shook her head, perplexed by their father's whims." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Dmitri only smiled, taking her arm, and together they walked into church.\n\nKikimora did not feel inclined to sit through another mass. But she lingered close to the church for a time, exploring the gravestones in the little cemetery next door while the voices of the congregation soared up into the grey and windswept morning. She made a slow circuit of the building, and was almost back to the market square when she came upon a strange monument nestled in an alcove between two buttresses." }, { "from": "human", "value": "It was the figure of a man, huge and powerfully built, with horns jutting from the sides of his head." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "At the back of his head was a second face, fierce in demeanour. Kikimora knew little of religion, but she didn't think this was the Christian God. She circled the statue, one hand trailing across the cold, pitted stone.\n\nAs the singing drew to a close, she returned to the square, gazing in wonder at the entertainments on offer." }, { "from": "human", "value": "There were jugglers and acrobats, musicians and fire-eaters." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "In one corner a cart was set up as a small stage, and mummers in gaudy costumes performed short plays full of intrigue, treachery and murder. Unaware of the stories' biblical origins, Kikimora thought them very thrilling and sensational.\n\nThe morning passed quickly, and it seemed no time at all before the church doors were opened once more. The finely dressed congregation poured out into the square; their spiritual obligations complete, they were ready to indulge in some fun." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Dmitri and Yana had not gone more than a few steps into the square before they were hailed by an imperious voice, \"Rachmanov.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Dmitri turned. A gentleman was making his way down the church steps. He was tall and well built, and must once have been fine looking. But his skin sagged, he was running to fat, and his nose was criss-crossed with broken veins. His clothing entailed many brightly coloured silks and velvets, not all of which complemented each other, or his ruddy complexion." }, { "from": "human", "value": "As he drew close he swept off a feathered hat, and bowed low, revealing a fine head of improbably yellow hair." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Miss Rachmanov, what a pleasure.\"\n\n\"Count Rudov,\" said Yana, curtseying. \"I hadn't expected to see you until later this week.\"\n\n\"Indeed,\" said Rudov. \"I find myself exceedingly busy, but it is so important to maintain one's spiritual rigour.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Of course,\" said Yana doubtfully." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Dmitri began to ask if the Count intended to stay long in the town, but Rudov interrupted without seeming to notice. \"May I say how enchanting you look today, Miss Rachmanov? In this light one can scarcely see your imperfections.\"\n\nYana flushed and looked down at her feet. She forced a brief smile, but her hand strayed self-consciously to her pitted cheek." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Dmitri frowned, asking, \"What brings you back to Korsakov after all this time?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He tried not to think of Marek's gossip regarding the Count, but found it hard to put out of his mind.\n\nRudov waved a hand airily. \"Can a man not return to his home without causing consternation? I fear I grow weary of the great cities, and long for the simpler life. Forgive me if I take my leave so soon,\" he added, taking Yana's hand and swooping down to plant a whiskery kiss in her palm. \"I hope we can further our acquaintance when I visit your father later this week?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "He nodded briefly to Dmitri before turning to leave." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The Rachmanovs watched in silence until he was swallowed up by the crowds.\n\n\"Well,\" said Dmitri drily. \"We are honoured.\"\n\n\"He is certainly more courteous than I recall,\" said Yana, her face still flushed. \"If a little brusque.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Dmitri said he was sure Rudov had intended to pay her a compliment, \"In his own peculiar way.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"I understood the one thing he could be relied upon for was a smooth, silver tongue. I am sure he said precisely what he meant to.\"\n\nDmitri took his sister's hand. \"Do we care for the opinion of a fellow whose lunch, supper and breakfast are all displayed across his waistcoat?\"\n\nYana smiled and gently chastised him for being rude." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Dmitri protested, \"If I was rude I would have congratulated him on how the egg yolk matched his fine new hairpiece.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Why do you think he has come back?\" she asked as they strolled arm in arm around the square.\n\n\"Perhaps he is finally going to take an interest in running what estates remain to him? His vineyards down by the river are doing very poorly by all accounts. I expect Father will find out more when he speaks to him.\"\n\nAs they made their way back to the tavern where Vitali waited with the coach, Dmitri began to hum, and then to sing softly, \"Oh, the Duke of Nim was a fine old fellow; His beard was black and his hair was yellow.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Yana spluttered with laughter." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Dmitri! What if someone should hear you?\"\n\n\"They would never make the connection. The Duke of Nim was a fine old fellow.\"\n\nHe handed Yana up into the carriage, and made his way back to the market, pausing to let a line of ragged penitents pass by. Beating themselves with knotted ropes, the men warned of the coming apocalypse, loudly advising all to follow their example and beg the Lord for mercy on their undeserving souls." }, { "from": "human", "value": "No one in the crowds seemed inclined to listen." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "A child threw a handful of manure, catching the leader a glancing blow on the cheek. Unperturbed, the penitent did not bother to wipe his face, but stopped and addressed the crowd, filth still dripping from his cheek onto his sackcloth robe, \"The four horsemen will ride, and fire will rain down from the heavens! The dead will rise from the grave; and demons bestride the earth! For the end times are upon us...\"\n\nA crowd gathered to jeer. Dmitri gave them a wide berth, and bought himself a cup of The best spiced tea to be had outside of the Indies – though a lady two stalls away promised it would taste like dishwater, whereas her own brew was Fit to grace the tables of Emperors, Tsars and Caliphs." }, { "from": "human", "value": "The sellers of hot pies were less poetic in their sales pitches." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The meat pasty he bought was guaranteed, Fresh today, and no cat in it. Nor fox. While he handed over his coin, Kikimora stole a sugar bun. She hoped there was no cat in that either.\n\nShe stuck close behind Dmitri as he made his way around the square, but was obliged to move aside a little when a thin-faced boy fell into step behind him." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Wiping his dripping nose on the back of his sleeve, the boy glanced keenly all around." }, { "from": "system", "value": "Your next one should be approximately one sentence." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Then, quick as an eel, his fingers dipped into Dmitri's pocket, hooking the leather pouch he kept there." } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Hey can you write like Emma Woodcock and use whatever i write as a jumping off point?" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Leshy emerged blinking into a deluge." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Clouds churned overhead, throwing down needle sharp rain. The wind seemed to come from every direction, violently shaking the trees, and tossing any loose debris into the air.\n\nHe hurried to the shelter of the great willow tree in whose roots he had made his burrow. Shaking water from his fur, he hunkered down beneath its branches and began to lick mud from his paws." }, { "from": "human", "value": "He knew he ought to go at once and make sure Kikimora was safe, but he thought again of the miner – the musician – trapped beneath the earth as the water rose, and he hesitated, unsure if he was doing the right thing." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He reminded himself it was for Kikimora's own good he kept the man from her. But something felt uncomfortable deep within his chest, as though he had accidentally swallowed a piece of bark or some small piece of bone.\n\nAs he argued it back and forth he was joined by a small, wet cat. \"Barinya! What are you doing here, so far from home? Are you lost?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Barinya gave him a scornful look." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"I came to find you. Hurry, there is little time.\"\n\nLeshy startled. He had never heard Barinya speak before, and it had always puzzled him, for all living things spoke to him.\n\n\"You may close your jaw,\" Barinya said tartly. \"Anatoly has been very foolish, and I need your help to prevent a disaster.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "While Leshy was processing this, the kittens Malinka and Yuri ran from the wet undergrowth and into the shelter of the willow, where they shook and licked themselves, mewing piteously." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Leshy scooped them into his huge hands, soothing them with comforting sounds and his own great warmth.\n\nSensing his disapproval, Barinya said defensively, \"I couldn't leave them at that house. Anatoly may return at any time, and who knows what he might do in his madness? I fear I don't know him any more. He is like a man possessed.\"\n\nThe kits began to quieten, and soon fell asleep on Leshy's furry stomach, uttering only the occasional tiny cat snore or wet sneeze.\n\n\"I know you trust Anatoly,\" Barinya said." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"You believe him wise, and just and fair. But he too is a man, with a man's weaknesses and foibles. Sometimes he makes mistakes. And he has made a terrible one. How long has he complained of the miners setting their monstrous explosions within the earth? Yet now he has emulated them – causing such a cataclysm the tunnels have collapsed upon themselves. Many men could be trapped or injured, perhaps already dead.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Anatoly did this?\" Leshy struggled to believe it.\n\n\"And this cursed rain only makes matters worse. The tunnels will already be flooding.\"\n\nLeshy's glance flickered uneasily to his burrow. The entrance gaped wide now, a steady stream of water eroding its earthen banks." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"The men won't be able to move enough debris in time to save them. But you – you can throw boulders like apples! You have the strength of ten men. You could unblock the passages, and free those trapped within...\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Leshy was silent a while, considering her words. \"It is the North Wind brings all this rain our way. Perhaps he has asked his fellow winds to help.\"\n\nBarinya nodded, and said that no doubt he and Anatoly were in it together. \"Did you truly know nothing of it?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "she asked, and paused long enough for him to grow uncomfortable, wondering why his friends had not told him their plans." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"I'm not surprised,\" she continued. \"They must have realised you wouldn't stand for such barbarism. That's why they have plotted in secret and kept you in the dark.\"\n\nLeshy glanced awkwardly at his burrow once more. \"They did give me a small task.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Barinya's hard gaze snapped towards him. \"What task?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Only to waylay him. I knew nothing of the rest...\"\n\n\"What are you talking about?\"\n\n\"The miner,\" Leshy said. \"Kikimora's musician.\"\n\nBarinya's tail stood straight up, only the tip quivering with fury." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"He is here? Not trapped in the mine with his men?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"No,\" Leshy assured her. \"He's safe. A bit damp...\"\n\nBarinya's green eyes blinked slowly. Leshy continued to speak, but she didn't hear him, lost in contemplation of Kikimora's dangerous, impossible – and unnecessary – mission." }, { "from": "human", "value": "She swore at length, and told Leshy he was just as foolish and meddlesome as Anatoly." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He took her abuse with humility, finally asking, \"Shall I let him go, then?\"\n\n\"Yes! Release him at once.\"\n\nSecretly relieved to relinquish responsibility for the decision, Leshy gently lowered the sleeping kittens to the ground. He ran through the rain, and down into the flooded burrow." }, { "from": "human", "value": "He re-emerged a moment later, and Dmitri struggled out behind him, soaked and filthy." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He staggered to the shelter of the willow tree.\n\n\"I will not help free the trapped men,\" Leshy said, scooping up the still sleeping kittens. \"But I will keep your children safe and warm while you do whatever you think you must.\"\n\nBarinya's tail swiped angrily." }, { "from": "human", "value": "She said she supposed she should be grateful for that much, but she didn't sound it." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Leshy hung his head, and loped off into the forest.\n\nDmitri took a closer look at the cat. She seemed quite ordinary - except that he'd heard her speak. But then, he was having that sort of day." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Hello,\" he said politely." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The rain fell steadily as Barinya led him through the tangled forest. There were no paths, but the cat seemed to know exactly where she was going. Great hunks of snow still lay in sheltered corners, but much of it had melted in the rain, forming into sudden streams that criss-crossed the uneven ground. Barinya skirted these obstacles as best she could, but seemed generally unperturbed by the pervading wetness." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Although many times her size, Dmitri struggled to keep up with the cat, who was able to run nimbly below the many low branches that blocked his own path." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Don't you mind the wet?\" he asked, as she waded through an icy pool, paddling her front paws to keep afloat.\n\nBarinya looked tiny and pitiful as she struggled out from the pool. She shook herself vigorously until her fur stood on end, then turned and gave him a scornful look, saying of course she didn't like it, but there were more important matters at hand." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Perhaps I could carry you?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "he offered. He began to explain that it would be no bother at all, but tailed off under the weight of her glare. \"I meant no offence,\" he added, with a sinking feeling about the amount of offence he was unwittingly giving lately.\n\n\"Thank you,\" Barinya said primly. \"But I prefer to trust my own four legs.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "As they walked, she told him about the rock fall, and the trapped men." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "She assured him Kikimora had not been in the mine at the time of the collapse.\n\n\"She's safe?\" Dmitri asked. Barinya said only that she was elsewhere. It was not a good answer, but it was sufficient when so many other concerns demanded his attention." }, { "from": "human", "value": "He wanted to know who was missing, but Barinya knew only what Anatoly had told her and what little she saw as she passed by the mine." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"I don't understand,\" said Dmitri. \"Why would Sergei blast in the tunnel? He knew it was unsafe. We had all discussed it. Boris was most adamant on the matter.\"\n\n\"Because you told him to.\"\n\nDmitri assured her he had not." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"But that is what Sergei believes. I am sorry to say, you were impersonated.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Dmitri struggled to grasp this. \"Sergei knows me. He wouldn't be so easily fooled.\"\n\n\"Who said it was easy? Anatoly is most accomplished in his glamours.\"\n\nDmitri was silent for a time, contemplating this." }, { "from": "human", "value": "The longer he looked at it, the worse it seemed." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"They will string me up.\"\n\nBarinya gave no comforting assurances that he was wrong. \"Then perhaps you should stay away?\"\n\nDmitri scowled at her, and carried on through the dripping trees." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Their route climbed a steep slope, and he was obliged to hold on to gnarled roots to keep his footing." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He began to ask how much further they must go when, reaching the brow of the hill, he emerged from the undergrowth and found himself on the road below the mine buildings. From here he would normally be able to hear the roar of the furnaces, the ringing of the blacksmith's hammer; but all he could hear was the hissing rain and his own laboured breathing.\n\nWomen and children were crowded into the buildings, sheltering from the heavy rain. Some sat beneath an oilcloth, gathered around a thin, flickering fire." }, { "from": "human", "value": "They were largely silent, but for one wailing child." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Dmitri walked some way into the yard before he was noticed. Erzsabet was the first to his side. \"Mr Rachmanov, Sir. Thank God you have come. My Sergei is missing. And Feliks. They say Sergei caused this,\" she told him, an anxious hand at his sleeve. \"That he blasted in the wrong place. But he would never! He is a good boy, and careful.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"My Grigory is gone too.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Dmitri recognised Sasha, Grigory's wife, a handsome woman with dark eyes and full lips. Today her face was pale and drawn with worry.\n\n\"We will get them back,\" Dmitri said with as much confidence as he could muster. One of the other women commented dourly that Sergei should not have been down there alone to make the mistake." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Several more agreed with her, though their voices were softer and less certain." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"You are right!\" Dmitri hastily assured them. \"Listen to me, all of you. Sergei is an excellent apprentice, and did only as he believed he was instructed. But he was tricked. Many of you believe you saw me here this morning, but I tell you I was not here. An imposter waylaid me and has been impersonating me.\"\n\nShocked murmurs swept through the crowd. \"The man was most skilful in his disguise, and succeeded in fooling the men – with the terrible consequences we have seen. You all know that I would never do anything to endanger the men here.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Some of the women nodded their agreement, relieved to be given an explanation, however strange and unlikely." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Others frowned and muttered, thinking it a poor, unconvincing excuse. While they clamoured around him, asking more questions, a pair of carriages pulled into the yard, followed by a laden wagon and a dozen or more servants on foot. The head carriage rocked and swayed before finally disgorging Mrs Olgakov. After her, three more finely and impractically dressed ladies stepped down into the mud." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Stoically ignoring the rain, Mrs Olgakov directed the wagon over to the store room." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"We have brought blankets,\" she told the perplexed mine workers. \"And hot food. There are kettles, and – Rosa, see to it, would you?\"\n\nUnder the direction of Rosa, half a dozen housewives, and several of the mine women, goods were quickly unloaded from the wagon and distributed as needed. Mrs Olgakov swept across the yard to clasp Dmitri by the arm." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Mr Rachmanov, I cannot tell you how relieved I am to see you alive and well! We naturally assumed you would be amongst those trapped by the explosion. But I am happy to discover our misapprehension. I must send word back. The girls are quite beside themselves. It was all I could do to prevent all four of them from riding over here! Dear Beatrice said she would dig you out with her own hands. Only imagine!\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Dmitri managed to edge his way into her monologue, telling her that five men were trapped, and although he was grateful for her assistance, he must go up to the mine and supervise the rescue effort.\n\n\"Of course,\" Mrs Olgakov said at once. \"The men will need feeding, I am sure. Do you suppose they would prefer mutton soup or pork dumplings?\"\n\nDmitri said he was sure any and all hot food would be received most gratefully, and set off to the mine before anything further could waylay him." }, { "from": "human", "value": "He spared a moment to clasp Erzsabet's hands, telling her, \"The men are not lost yet. They are strong, and you must be too. Know that we will do everything in our power for them.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Erzsabet nodded silently, her jaw clenched on unshed tears.\n\nAt the mine, Dmitri was greeted with cold eyes and muttered comments. He again attempted to explain his abduction and impersonation, but was met with frank incredulity. \"Aye, well,\" said one of the older men." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"You're here now, at any rate.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Dmitri told himself that what the men believed was not important. They could discuss the days strange events more fully later; all that mattered right now was freeing the trapped men. But he felt the injustice of their bad opinions, and wished he could convince them.\n\n\"Tell me everything,\" he said to Rasmus as he headed into the tunnels." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Well, Sir, Sergei laid the charges precisely where you left him holding a fistful of gunpowder - beg pardon,\" he corrected himself." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Where a man in a disguise left Sergei holding a fistful of your gunpowder.\"\n\nDmitri sighed and said, \"Rasmus, you are right; I have been remiss. I should have admitted weeks ago that the mine is indeed beset by supernatural forces.\"\n\nRasmus glanced back at him sharply.\n\n\"It is these same forces which have caused this catastrophe. I know you and the other men believe in far more than the priests tell you. You have seen events unfold here these past weeks, and you have whispered of malevolent forces. You were right. All the tricks and accidents, even Pieter's Pale Lady – all of it has been deliberately worked against us. They wished to destroy us, and they've damned near succeeded. But I shall not let them take our men.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"As you say, Sir.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Rasmus' tone was guarded, as though unsure quite what to believe; but at least he no longer showed open contempt.\n\nLights showed ahead. Several men were gathered at the mouth of the fallen tunnel. One was bleeding from a head wound, another cradled an injured arm. They eyed Dmitri coldly and offered no greetings but the barest of nods." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Lacking the energy for another explanation, Dmitri only said, \"Get these injured men back up to the entrance. We need no further mishaps. There is hot food arriving. Keep your strength up. We could be here a long time.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He ducked into the low tunnel. Water flowed everywhere, glistening down the walls, and gathering in the passages. They were ankle-deep by the time they came to an abrupt halt, the way blocked by half a dozen men. Dmitri pushed awkwardly to the front, calling ahead for an assessment of the situation." }, { "from": "human", "value": "The rockfall began just as the passage began to open upwards." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Large amounts of stone had shattered and fallen. Debris made the area impassable, and another stretch treacherous and unstable. Early efforts to clear the rubble had resulted in a second collapse, leading to the injuries they had seen at the mouth of the tunnel.\n\n\"We have tapped our picks on the rock, and called til we're hoarse,\" Levi told him." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"There's no telling if they can hear us on the other side, or if - you know. We've heard no answering sounds.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Most of the men on this side of the fall were unfamiliar with what lay beyond. Dmitri recalled the times he'd make this journey over the past few days, how the tunnel had suddenly grown higher, and then led to the tumbled stones and the entrance to the cavern. \"It is some distance still - perhaps 20-30 yards. And then, who knows on the other side.\" He shifted his feet in the fast flowing water." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"How long has it been like this? Has it noticeably worsened since you began work here?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Started as a trickle,\" said Levi. \"Soon after we came down. But it's risen steadily. Lot of limestone down here. The water finds a way anywhere. They say the snow is all melting?\"\n\n\"Aye, and more rain is pouring down.\"\n\nBoth men's eyes were drawn to the daunting pile of debris before them." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"I never saw this new cavern, but I heard it's big?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Huge. It couldn't possibly flood in a few hours.\"\n\n\"You'd be surprised how quickly the water can gather,\" an older man said softly. \"Forty years I've been underground, and seen many things I was told were impossible. But let us hope you're right.\"\n\nDmitri nodded grimly. \"How long will it take to shift, do you think?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "The men frowned and scratched their beards, trying to make the calculation." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Too long,\" Rasmus decided, and all seemed to agree.\n\n\"Nevertheless, we must try,\" Dmitri said. \"With so little room, we need an efficient system. Rasmus, fetch boys with barrows. We need a chain going all the way up to the mouth - work a short stretch and pass on to the next man. Swap shifts regularly. There is only room for a few men to work at a time, so the others should rest and refresh themselves.\"\n\n\"Yes, Sir.\" Rasmus nodded, and ducked back into the tunnel." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Barinya prowled the mine enclosure, searching for Anatoly." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "She flicked a glance after Dmitri as he set off for the mine. She would have to trust he had sufficient sense to do whatever was required without her help – though in her experience, men had little sense, and what small amount they possessed was easily displaced by the most frivolous distractions. Which was one reason she had told him nothing of Kikimora's rescue attempt. Another reason was that although she hoped and trusted Kikimora would succeed, Barinya knew all too well how plans could go awry." }, { "from": "human", "value": "It was always a good idea to have a back up." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "She at last found Anatoly on the far side of the enclosure, dressed as a woodsman. Thin face tilted up to the rain, he moved among the scaffolding that supported the aqueduct. Running a hand down the rough-hewn wood, he pulled on the criss-crossing struts, testing their strength.\n\nFrom his pack he unfolded a piece of oilcloth, lashing it to the struts to create a small shelter." }, { "from": "human", "value": "He bound a package of powder to the strut at a meeting of joints." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "From a rolled cloth he selected a long goose quill, quickly stripping the feathers with his knife, leaving only a narrow tube. Placing the quill carefully into the package, he filled it with black powder from a vial.\n\nAs he stood back to survey his handiwork, Barinya pounced, sinking her teeth into his earlobe. Anatoly twisted and grappled, but the cat was too quick for him." }, { "from": "human", "value": "She dodged his flailing hands, writhing around his neck, finding any exposed skin to scratch." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "In his frenzy, he tore at the oilcloth, ripping it from its ties. Within seconds, the packet of gunpowder was soaked and ruined.\n\nWith a yell of frustration, he managed to get a firm grip around Barinya's neck, tearing her free – though a piece of his ear went with her. She was back on her feet in a moment, hissing, watching for an opening to attack again." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Anatoly clamped a hand to his bleeding ear." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"I should never have taken you in, you wretched creature! You have done nothing but work against me. Haven't I given you food and warmth and a roof over your head? And this is how you repay me?\"\n\nBarinya flicked her ears contemptuously. Crouching low to the ground, she shuffled forward a little at a time.\n\n\"I have never known such an ignorant and yet so determined beast. What did I do to earn your unending animosity? If you only had the wit of your fellow creatures you would see that what I do I do for the good of us all.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "He sighed, running fingers through his soaked hair." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"I don't know why I even waste my words on you.\"\n\nBarinya took the opportunity to pounce, but Anatoly was ready for her. He whipped the oilcloth around, and caught her in it, quickly wrapping her thrashing claws inside. Rolling her up like a violent, hissing cigar, he tied the package with twine, and stood back, panting." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Barinya's furious growls sounded almost human." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Anatoly muttered a quick spell to silence her, and was disturbed when it had no effect. If anything, her howls seemed to grow even louder and more angry.\n\n\"I knew there was something more to you than meets the eye,\" he murmured. But much though his interest was piqued, he feared the racket would draw the attention of the miners." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Holding the thrashing bundle at arm's length, he retreated further into the forest," }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"When all this is over, you and I shall have a talk,\" he told her. \"I shall find a language we can both use, and we shall discuss quite what your issues are, Madam Cat. But just now I need you to stay out of my way.\"\n\nTaking a further length of twine, he strung the cat cigar up from a sturdy branch. Barinya howled her outrage so loudly Anatoly grimaced and gritted his teeth." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"If you would stop struggling I'm sure you could be quite comfortable,\" he said reasonably, then yelped as she swung around and bit his fingers." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Her angry yowls followed him all the way to the aqueduct, where he examined his useless, sodden gunpowder. He tore it away, and rigged another makeshift shelter. Working quickly, he brought out another package, resetting the charge on the same strut.\n\nHe glanced briefly towards the miners' families, gathered now beneath a large shelter, sharing hot broth and bread." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Though the rain still lashed down and no word had come from the mine, there was a less hopeless atmosphere in the enclosure." }, { "from": "system", "value": "Your next one should be approximately 1 sentence." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Anatoly frowned and turned away, reaching for his tinder box." } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "expand on the story like Samantha Christy would" }, { "from": "system", "value": "Produce a starting prompt please." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "[ Seven years ago ]\n\nAbby and I stroll past store after store in the mall until I stop our progress and pin her to the wall with my stare. \"What's the matter?\"\n\nShe looks at the floor.\n\n\"You've been acting strange for days. You love shopping, but we've yet to go into a single store. What gives? Are you sick?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Not exactly.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"What does that mean?\" I swallow and take a step back, fear crawling up my spine. \"Is there someone else?\"\n\nHer eyes snap to mine. \"God, no.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Relief." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Then what is it?\"\n\nA single tear falls from her lashes. \"I … oh, Christopher.\" She grabs her stomach." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"I feel sick. I need a bathroom.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "I rush her to the nearest restroom and wait outside for ten excruciating minutes, wondering what's going on.\n\nWhen she finally emerges, her eyes are red and puffy, and she looks exhausted. I think of the past few days—the past week actually—and realize she hasn't been acting strange per se, just tired.\n\n\"You are sick,\" I say, leading her to the nearest bench." }, { "from": "human", "value": "She shakes her head. \"I'm not.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "She gives her belly a rub, and my heart falls.\n\n\"Abbs, really?\" I grab her hand. \"Are you sure?\"\n\nShe sniffs away more tears. \"There's nothing else it could be. I'm late. Really late. Three weeks or more. I lost track of time and didn't think about it until I started feeling … funny.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"But it could be something else. You could be sick. Maybe you have the flu and that's the reason you're late.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "She shrugs weakly.\n\nI stand and pull her to her feet. \"Come on. We have to be sure.\" I gesture to a drugstore." }, { "from": "human", "value": "She holds me back." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Are you kidding? We can't go in there. Look around. I see four people from school. And who knows how many people from church could be here. I can't risk someone seeing us buying a test and telling my parents.\"\n\n\"Right. We'll try the next town, and you can stay in the car while I buy one.\"\n\nShe's still trying to hold back tears. \"You'd do that?\"\n\nI raise her hand to my mouth and kiss it." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"I'd do anything for you.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"You're not mad?\"\n\n\"I'm definitely not mad. Scared maybe. Surprised. But not mad. I'm just as much to blame as you are. More maybe, since I'm the one who buys the condoms.\"\n\nWe leave the mall, reach her car, and get in. \"You wore one every time,\" she says." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"How could this be happening?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"We're not sure it is. Your period has been whacky before.\"\n\n\"It's different this time. It's like I know.\"\n\n\"Or you're scared and imagining the worst-case scenario.\"\n\n\"What would we do?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Let's not think about that yet, okay? One thing at a time.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "I hold her hand for thirty minutes while I drive. Thirty minutes of silence, both of us surely contemplating what will happen if what she fears is true.\n\n\"Stay here,\" I say after pulling up to a drugstore.\n\nI reach in the backseat and put on a baseball cap I left in her car." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Then I raise the collar of my jacket around my neck." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "I probably look like I'm going to rob the place, but I can't risk anyone recognizing me and going to Abby's father.\n\nI peruse the pregnancy tests and pick the most expensive one, thinking it must be the best. Then I grab a bag of M&M's on the way to the register. I'm not sure why." }, { "from": "human", "value": "I don't even like them, and it's stupid to think that because I'm buying candy, the lady behind the counter will fail to see the pregnancy test, but I do it anyway." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Back in the car, I hand the bag to Abby. \"What now?\" I ask.\n\n\"I want to do it now and find out for sure.\"\n\n\"There's a bathroom inside. Go in there, but don't look at the results. The box says to wait three minutes. Come back out. I want to be with you when we find out.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "We lock eyes, both hoping this is all a bad dream." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "She takes the box and gets out of the car.\n\nI turn up the music, wanting to drown out the thoughts in my head. How can this be happening when everything is so perfect? We have so many plans." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Abby has become an unofficial member of Naked Whale." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Though her father refuses to let her sing with us, she comes to almost every rehearsal and even joined us last month for a gig in Jersey. Some high school hired us to play at their prom. It wasn't exactly Radio City Music Hall, but it's better than a stupid talent show.\n\nWe're good, and people are starting to notice." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Liam's uncle is kind of a bigwig." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He lined up some local county fair performances for this summer. Abby turns eighteen in August. Her parents won't be able to control her then. She says she wants what I want, to be part of a band, cut albums, and go on tour." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Everyone else thinks it's a pipe dream." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Everyone but Abby and me.\n\nShe gets in the car and hands me the test. \"I can't look.\"\n\nI take a deep breath, deeper than any breath I've ever taken, and look at the clock on my phone while the minutes tick away. \"It's going to be okay.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "She stares out the window." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "I look at the white stick. It's not one of those tests where you have to figure out if it's one line or two, crossed lines, or pink or blue. This test tells you flat out. PREGNANT.\n\nI try to think of anything but what our reality could be." }, { "from": "human", "value": "I love her. I'll never love anyone but her." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "I take her hand. \"Let's get married.\"\n\nHer head falls back. \"I knew it.\" Her chin quivers.\n\n\"Abby, this isn't the end of the world.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"That's easy for you to say. My dad will kill me. He will literally ground me for the rest of my life. I'll never get to see you again. He'll be so ashamed. He'll say I've disgraced the family. He might even make us move away.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "I pull her across the console and into my lap. \"Then we won't tell them.\"\n\n\"You mean get an abortion and pretend it never happened?\"\n\n\"We're not getting rid of our baby, Abbs. I mean we won't tell him until you're eighteen. You can hide it. Wear big shirts and stuff. It's not like you spend a lot of time with your parents anyway. You're either with me or Janine or the band, and when you're home, you stay in your room.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"What about church? I can't exactly wear oversized frumpy clothes there.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"You'll be eighteen in four months. How big do you think you'll be by then?\"\n\nShe looks at me in surprise. \"Do you really want to do this? Have a baby?\"\n\n\"It doesn't look like we have a choice, does it?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"I have no idea about anything, Christopher. I mean, what do we do? Do we go to a doctor? And since I'm a minor, how do I do that? If we keep it, we have to make sure it's okay, don't we?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "I do some quick internet searches on my phone. \"What time do you have to be home?\"\n\n\"Not until dinner. I have all day.\"\n\n\"Good. We're going to the city. We're halfway there anyway. They have tons of free clinics. I don't even think you have to give your real name.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"You mean like where the drug dealers go?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "I raise my brows. \"Babe, I doubt drug dealers go to doctors. I'm sure homeless people do, but also people without insurance. Lots of regular people don't have insurance. I'm sure it will be fine. Unless you have a better idea.\"\n\n\"There is no better idea. It's our only choice.\"\n\nI program the address into my phone." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Call the guys. Tell them we're missing practice today.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Two hours later, I'm staring at a black and white photo of the peanut that is our baby. Eight weeks, that's how pregnant she is. By August, she'll be almost six months along. The doctor said she'll be showing, but with the right clothes, she may be able to hide it." }, { "from": "human", "value": "He said to come back once a month to make sure everything is okay." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He sent us on our way with the picture and a bottle of prenatal vitamins.\n\nBack in the car, I take her into my arms.\n\n\"Did you really mean what you said?\" she asks.\n\n\"I've said a lot of things today.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"About getting married.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "I wipe her tears and cup her face. \"I'd marry you tomorrow if I could.\"\n\nShe nods over and over. \"I'd marry you too.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"We'll do it as soon as you turn eighteen, before the baby comes.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"What about school? What about my parents? I'll still be living under their roof. How will it work? What about the band? What about—\"\n\nI put my fingers over her mouth. \"It's going to be okay. Plenty of girls have babies in high school. You'll take a few weeks off or something. I'll help you with your studies. We'll take the same classes. If we're married, we'll live together. I'm sure my mom will let you move in. Your parents won't be able to say or do anything. As for the band, we've got paid gigs lined up for the summer. We'll save every penny for the baby. I'll get an extra job if I have to. And as for the kid—we'll take him on tour with us. Maybe buy him his own little guitar.\"\n\nFor the first time in days, she smiles. \"Him?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Just a feeling.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "She stares at the sonogram. \"It doesn't seem real.\"\n\nI put my hand on her belly. \"This may not have happened like we planned, but we're going to be together forever, Abbs. This just made forever happen a little faster.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "I reach into the glovebox and pull out a pen and paper." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "She laughs. \"You're writing a song? Now?\"\n\nI scribble some lyrics. \"Are you kidding? Of course I'm writing a song. Shh, let me think.\"\n\nShe looks over my shoulder as I write." } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Provide four sentences as a continuation." }, { "from": "human", "value": "[ Seven years ago ]" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "I am horrorstruck as police cordon off Abby's car and the surrounding area. An officer says to Mom and me, \"We'd like you to come to the station to give a statement.\"\n\n\"Right away.\" Mom starts to her car, then pauses. \"Chris, you coming?\"\n\nI hear her, but I can't move." }, { "from": "human", "value": "My feet are cemented to the ground as a cop places a numbered piece of plastic next to Abby's phone and then takes fifty pictures of it." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "I've seen this a million times on TV. They think this is evidence, but of what? My stomach flips again, but there's nothing left to bring up.\n\nI feel Mom's hand on my shoulder. \"Chris?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "I look at her and then back at Abby's car." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "I don't want to leave. I feel if I go, I'll never see Abby again.\n\n\"Folks, we need you to clear the area,\" a cop says.\n\nMom tugs on my arm." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"They need us at the police station.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "As we walk away, I see the police talking to some of the employees I spoke with inside the restaurant. One of them points to me.\n\nMom drives us to the police station across town. My phone blows up with texts." }, { "from": "human", "value": "After glancing at a few of them, I realize word has spread." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "I can't look at it anymore. I shut it off and put it in the cup holder.\n\nAt the station, we're escorted down a hall. We pass a room with a glass door." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Abby's parents are inside." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "They look up and see me, their terrified expressions matching mine.\n\nMom is introduced to Officer Hanley, who will take her statement at a desk in a room with other desks. I am taken into a private room by Detective Abrahms. We sit at a table across from one another." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Behind him is what is probably a two-way mirror, and I wonder if anyone is watching me." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"What's going on?\" I ask.\n\nHe puts a pad of paper and a pen on the table. \"Your full name?\"\n\n\"Chris Rewey. Uh, Christopher.\"\n\n\"Mind if I have a look at your driver's license?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "I take it out of my wallet and hand it to him." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Sir, can you please tell me what's happening?\"\n\n\"Your relationship to Ms. Evans?\"\n\n\"Boyfriend.\"\n\nHe makes notes and hands me back the license." }, { "from": "human", "value": "There is a notch in the table." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "A notch where one might hook handcuffs to keep someone restrained. \"Am I in some kind of trouble?\"\n\n\"That's what I'm here to determine.\"\n\nI narrow my eyes." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Don't you have to read me my rights or something if you're going to question me?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Do I need to read you your rights?\" he asks, features hard.\n\n\"No. Of course not.\"\n\n\"I'll start by getting your statement then. You are welcome to have a lawyer present when I take it.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Why would I need a lawyer? I told everything to one of the officers at the restaurant.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He flips through the pad. \"You said you were looking for Miss Evans because she didn't show up at a concert?\"\n\n\"That's right.\"\n\n\"Is there anyone who can corroborate your attendance at the event in the hours leading up to Miss Evans's disappearance?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Only about three hundred people. I'm the lead singer for one of the bands that performed. I was there all afternoon leading up to the concert. Listen, if you think I had anything to do with whatever happened to her, I don't. I'm her boyfriend. I love her.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He raises his eyebrows at me.\n\nI draw back. \"And the boyfriend is always the chief suspect, huh?\"\n\n\"You catch on quickly, son.\"\n\nHe gets a call on his phone, stands up, and paces while listening, staring at me the entire time." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Putting his phone down, he gazes at me with sympathy." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"What? Will someone please tell me what's going on?\"\n\n\"I just got word that you aren't a person of interest in this case.\"\n\n\"What does that mean?\"\n\n\"It means you don't need a lawyer, and we're not going to detain you.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "I stand. \"Then I can leave.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Yes, but I'd appreciate it if you stayed. If you're as close to Miss Evans as you say you are, you may have information pertinent to the case.\"\n\n\"There's a case?\"\n\n\"We've confirmed she's missing. It's my job to determine if it's voluntary or not.\"\n\n\"As in she threw all the shit from her purse on the ground, left her car, and took off?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "He shrugs. \"It happens more often than you think.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"That's not what happened.\"\n\n\"How can you be sure?\"\n\nI contemplate not telling him, but I'm scared shitless and protecting our secret is the least of my worries. \"Because she's pregnant.\"\n\n\"How far along?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Almost six months, but no one knows except the two of us and my mother.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He makes more notes on the pad. \"Who's the father?\"\n\n\"Who do you think? I am.\"\n\nHe gives me a hard stare. \"Are you sure about that?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Yes. She's never been with anyone else.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"You're certain there isn't another man?\"\n\nMy jaw clenches. \"I'm positive.\"\n\n\"What about a male family member? Are you aware of any history of abuse?\"\n\n\"Abuse? No. That's crazy.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"So there's no possibility she was sexually assaulted, which led to a pregnancy she's trying to cover up? No possibility someone could have hurt her?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Why would anyone want to hurt—\" Bile rises in my throat, and I swallow convulsively. \"Oh, shit.\"\n\n\"What is it?\"\n\n\"There's a man Abby used to work with. He's older than we are. He liked her to the point of being stalkerish. He got fired but still came to the restaurant to talk to her. I was there when he came in last week. I confronted him and told him to fuck off. He was pissed, but he left.\" The blood leaves my face." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"You think he could have taken her?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"His name?\"\n\n\"Rob. I don't know his last name. He's in his thirties, I think. He works at a gas station now. Her manager can tell you his full name.\" I groan. \"This is all my fault, isn't it?\"\n\n\"How could it be your fault, son?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Because I told him to fuck off. I told him if he ever came near her again, I would hunt him down and\" —I scrub my hand across my face— \"…kill him.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He lets out a sigh.\n\n\"Am I in trouble now?\"\n\n\"No. Wait here a minute.\"\n\nHe leaves the room." }, { "from": "human", "value": "While he's gone, I sit again, and the tears I suppressed when he was here finally fall." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "What did I do to her? I look at the clock. More than four hours have passed since she went missing. Part of me hopes the detective is right about people wanting to disappear." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Maybe her dad found out she was pregnant and threatened to make her give up the baby, so she ran away." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "It almost makes sense. She'd only have to hide for a week. But would she really go so far as to fake an abduction? No, she'd have told me, and she'd have skipped work if there was trouble at home." } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Expand the story by adding 4 sentences." }, { "from": "system", "value": "Produce a starting prompt please." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "I knock on the door, worried that I'm crossing a line, but I don't know what else to do.\n\nThe door opens, and Mrs. Rewey pales, like she's seen a ghost. She blinks a lot and doesn't speak.\n\n\"What's going on?\" I ask." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"You're looking at me the same way Crew does lately.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "I sink against the doorframe. \"He's going to break up with me, isn't he? I knew it. I'm sorry to have bothered you.\"\n\nBefore I can escape, she hauls me into her apartment. \"There's something you need to see.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "She takes a picture off the wall and hands it to me." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "It's a photo of Crew when he was younger and thinner, standing next to a girl. A girl whose hair looks exactly like mine. They're singing into the same microphone. He's gazing at her the same way he looks at me when we sing." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Or the way he did until recently." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"This is Abby?\" I say.\n\n\"He hasn't told you about her?\"\n\n\"I'm confused. He started to act strange after I got my hair done. It's not like he was altogether normal before that, but this last week has been horrible. I have to know, just who is she?\"\n\n\"Come. Sit.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "We settle in the living room." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "I take the picture with me. I can't stop staring at it. Abby is gazing straight at the camera while Crew is looking only at her. It's clear he's in love with her." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"What happened, Mrs. Rewey?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Please call me Shelly. Can I get you a drink? Water maybe?\"\n\n\"Yes, thank you.\"\n\nWhile she's in the kitchen, I go to the mirror on the wall and look at myself next to the picture. Aside from our hair, which is the same color and length, we don't look alike." }, { "from": "human", "value": "She has blue eyes, mine are green." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "I have more freckles and a thinner nose. I'm taller than she is.\n\nShelly comes back, catching me at the mirror. \"It's mostly the hair.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"And we're both singers.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"There is that.\"\n\n\"Tell me what happened. I know he was in love with her. I've seen some of his songs.\"\n\nHer eyes light up. \"He showed you?\"\n\nGuilt consumes me. \"He showed me one. I thought it was about me at first. Then the other night, he left his notebook open, and I … I shouldn't have, but I couldn't help myself.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Shelly touches my arm." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"You were curious. It's human nature. Don't beat yourself up about it.\"\n\n\"But the song was so private. I think it was about him wanting to die.\"\n\nShe inhales sharply. \"It was a tough time for him, after Abby died.\"\n\nMy eyes snap to hers. \"She died?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "She looks guilty. \"I thought you knew.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"I suspected, but I wasn't sure. How did it happen?\"\n\n\"Bria, I don't mean to be rude, but Chris needs to tell you in his own way. It would be better for both of you.\"\n\n\"I guess you're right, but it's hard.\"\n\n\"He likes you very much, I can tell. He showed you one of his songs about her. That's a step in the right direction.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"I thought he showed it to me to let me know he could never feel that way about me.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"I doubt that. Chris might feel more than the average person. Maybe that's why he writes good songs. I suspect you're the same way, which is why this is so hard for you. I can see how much you care for him. Not many young women would have the courage to show up and ask questions. It tells me you're willing to fight for him. And perhaps that's exactly what he needs.\"\n\n\"Maybe now it will be a little easier. How long do you think he needs to get over her?\"\n\n\"Grief doesn't have a timetable. To some, seven years is a lifetime. To others, it can seem like yesterday.\"\n\n\"She died seven years ago?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "She nods." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"They were high school sweethearts?\"\n\n\"Yes.\"\n\n\"And you were close to her?\"\n\n\"She was like a daughter to me.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "That makes me sad." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Shelly sees the tears pooling in my eyes. She puts her arm around me. \"But that doesn't mean there's not room for more. In my heart and Chris's.\"\n\n\"My mom died.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"I know. Chris told me.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"He talks about me?\"\n\n\"Yes. I'm very sorry about your mom. What a horrible day that must have been.\"\n\n\"I was so young, I don't even remember her.\"\n\nShe touches the picture." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"That's why photos are important. They help us remember the faces of those we've loved. It doesn't mean we can't love others just because we keep them around.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "I think about the empty spots on Chris's bookshelf, where he obviously keeps photos of her.\n\n\"Do you think he's still suicidal?\"\n\n\"He's sad, stuck in an emotional rut. He's also holding on to a lot of guilt, but he's not suicidal. Music has helped him when nothing else could. I think you're helping him, too.\"\n\n\"Me? I think I'm making things worse.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"You are forcing him to come to terms with the past and making him think about a future. You're doing everything right. Don't change a thing.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "I look at the young girl in the picture. \"Can I ask you one more question? Did she call him Christopher?\"\n\nShe nods, then she takes the picture from me, walks across the room, and hangs it. She stares at a blank spot on the wall." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"There is an empty spot right here that needs another photo.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "She glances at me. \"I bet it won't be too long before I'm hanging a picture of you.\"\n\nI drop my eyes.\n\nShe sits next to me." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"You love my son, don't you?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Is it that obvious?\"\n\nShe laughs. \"No, but you wouldn't be here if you didn't. Give him time, Bria. I promise he's worth waiting for. Why don't you stay for lunch? I'll make sandwiches. You need energy for tonight's performance. Chris tells me it's a big one.\"\n\nI stand, ready to accept her invitation, and catch a glimpse of myself in the mirror. \"Thanks for the offer but I'll have to take a raincheck.\"" } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Expand the story by adding 4 sentences." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Crew laughs when I struggle to walk up the five steps to the stage." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"A bit sore, are we?\"\n\n\"Sore is an understatement. My legs are on fire.\"\n\nHe takes the steps two at a time, and I resist the urge to punch him in the arm. How can he not be in pain after what we went through this week?" }, { "from": "human", "value": "I think back on the two martial arts classes we attended and how incredibly awkward and uncoordinated I was." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Crew, on the other hand, seems to be picking it up like a bad habit.\n\n\"Don't worry,\" he says. \"Once the music starts, you'll forget all about that.\"\n\nHe's right. When we're out here singing, everything else seems so inconsequential." }, { "from": "human", "value": "I peek at the audience before we take our places." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Looks like standing room only, and they're already crowding the stage.\"\n\nLiam takes a look. \"Hell yeah! We're going to outgrow places like this in no time.\"\n\nWhy does tonight feel different than last week?" }, { "from": "human", "value": "It almost seems like they are here for us and not the liquor." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "I look around the corner and see some girls edging each other out to get closer to the stage.\n\n\"Go,\" Jeremy says, giving us our cue.\n\nWe run onstage with lots of energy, and the crowd cheers. They are louder than normal." }, { "from": "human", "value": "It's not like we don't get applause, but it usually comes after we start singing, not before." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Crew goes up to the mic. \"Hey, Bridgeport, we're Reckless Alibi.\"\n\n\"Thanks for having us,\" I say into mine.\n\n\"You're hot!\" a man screams." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Crew stiffens, then gives me a crooked smile and says, \"Thanks, dude,\" eliciting laughter from the crowd." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "I think about how far he's come this week. He visited Abby's grave and sang the song he wrote for her. Most of it anyway. He couldn't get through the whole thing." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Afterward he ripped the page out and tucked it in the dirt by her grave marker." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He left two roses, one for each of them, and looked sad but also relieved. We parted ways then; he said he had to go home and finish another song he'd started. Part of me wonders if the one song wasn't enough to say goodbye. Maybe a hundred songs won't be." }, { "from": "human", "value": "I sing and soon forget about goodbye songs, tiny graves, and uncertain futures." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Crew always looks happiest when he sings. It's obvious he's in his element. He was born to be onstage, but tonight there is something different about him. During one of our raunchier songs, he does a jumping front kick, a move we learned in martial arts class, and I have to look away to avoid laughing." }, { "from": "human", "value": "When we sing 'On That Stage,' before the break, it's almost like we're back in my apartment the day we wrote the lyrics." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The day I knew I had deep feelings for him. The day he ran away but then came back. There is so much emotion between us, it's palpable.\n\n\"Stick around,\" Crew says to the crowd." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"We'll be back in fifteen.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The crowd cheers as we leave the stage. \"Jesus,\" Garrett says. \"We're really lighting this place up.\"\n\nWe all revel in the applause and then I do what I normally do on break, head to the bathroom. I still get nervous up there, and it makes me have to pee." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Before I can get to the restroom, hands are on me, forcing me through a different door." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "I'm about to karate-chop the person when I catch a glimpse of my captor.\n\nCrew pushes me against the wall and kisses me. His lips are intoxicating, his touch electric. I get lost in his kiss, the way his mouth feels on mine—oh, how I've missed it." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Sensation and emotion wrap me in a thick blanket, his masculine groan warming me through and through." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "I've been kissed by at least a dozen men and could still recognize his kiss out of all of them. My head spins, my stomach dances, my heart flutters.\n\nWhich is why it's so hard to push him away.\n\nHis eyes burn with desire." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"I want you so badly.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "I lean my forehead against his chest. \"I know. Me, too, but not like this. Singing is foreplay, Chris, but it's not our real feelings.\"\n\nHe thrusts his erection against me. \"This sure as shit is a real feeling.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "I don't answer, but I don't pull away either." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "God, I've missed his touch.\n\nHe strokes my arm. \"You mean to tell me when we sing, you don't have real feelings? Come on, Bria. Those songs are about us. They're filled with our feelings.\"\n\nI work up the willpower to step back and break contact, but it's like a part of me is missing." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"You're right. Those are real feelings, but it's too soon. You're just beginning to get your life back after seven years. Don't you want to figure out who Chris Rewey is before you let me have a part of you?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "His hands run through his hair. He nods. He leans down and puts his forehead against mine. \"You'll wait for me to get there, won't you?\"\n\nTears prickle the backs of my eyes." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Of course I will.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Because I love you, I want to say, but I don't. He'll say it back, but he won't really mean it. And that scares me more than anything.\n\nI open the door." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"I really have to pee. Meet you back out there?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "I expect him to be waiting outside the bathroom door when I come out, but he's waiting for me at the end of the hallway. That's progress. When we get backstage, Liam runs over. \"Where the hell have you been? Look at this.\"\n\nHe holds up his phone." }, { "from": "human", "value": "A music video plays. Our music video." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"You want to know why the crowd is so happy to see us?\" Garrett says. \"Look at the number of views.\"\n\nMy jaw drops when I see seven figures.\n\nCrew laughs. \"Score another one for Ronni, who forgot to tell us the video had been released.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "He turns to Jeremy." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"You knew about this?\"\n\nHe shakes his head. \"I'm as surprised as you are.\" He tries to look excited for us, but I can tell he's pissed." }, { "from": "human", "value": "He's our manager. He should be in the loop on these things." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Hell, we all should.\n\n\"Shh,\" I say. \"I can't hear it.\" My eyes are locked on Liam's phone, waiting to see the last scene.\n\nCrew squeezes my elbow." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"A hundred bucks says it's the one we want.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "When I see myself push away all the girls and Crew pick me up and put me in the car, I almost cry. I never thought Ronni would let that ending fly, but now I understand why she didn't tell us about the release.\n\nGarrett says, \"Holy shit, we have over a million followers on Insta. When the hell did that happen?\"\n\nWe look at each other in disbelief." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"You're on your way up,\" Jeremy says." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"But right now you have a set to finish. Get out there and give these people what they came for.\"\n\nI walk up the stairs to the stage—this time feeling no pain. They came for us. Not because of the two-for-one drinks." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Not because it's Saturday night. For us." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Garrett counts us off. Liam and Brad start playing. Crew and I look at each other and smile. And then we sing." }, { "from": "human", "value": "People swarm our table after the set." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "They ask for autographs, pictures, handshakes. Crew is stoic. He's engaging with people, but I can tell he's trying hard not to lose his shit. A man touches my arm, and he flinches. Another pulls me in for a hug, and Garrett has to hold Crew back." }, { "from": "human", "value": "A third gets handsy when I take a photo with him, and Crew stands, his barstool falling over on his way to me." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Oh shit,\" Brad says when he realizes what's about to happen. He shouts at the top of his lungs, \"Tangerine! Uh, plantain. No, watermelon. Shit, I can't remember the goddamn word.\"\n\nInstead of things escalating and Crew going off on Mr. Handsy, we break into laughter.\n\nLiam slaps the back of Brad's head." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"It's pineapple, you tool.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Mr. Handsy moves on, and Crew takes a breath. Sorry, he mouths. I flash him a smile. He's trying.\n\n\"Hey, how about we take this party somewhere more private?\" I say.\n\nLiam, Garrett, and Brad are enjoying the attention; they don't want to leave." }, { "from": "human", "value": "But Liam gets what I'm doing." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Good idea,\" he says. The others fall in line.\n\nAt the van, Bruce is putting away our gear, and Jeremy is helping.\n\n\"Anyone know of a good bar around here?\" Liam asks." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Bruce says, \"I grew up close by. What are you in the mood for?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Don't much care as long as they serve whiskey,\" Liam says.\n\n\"I know just the place.\"\n\nWe pile in. When Jeremy looks ready to find his car, I call, \"You want to join us? It's your celebration too.\"\n\n\"You want me to come?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "I smile. \"I do.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He looks at the guys. They shrug at each other. Then Crew says, \"Why not? The more the merrier.\"\n\nTwo hours and a bottle of whiskey later, we're the only patrons left in this quaint neighborhood bar." }, { "from": "human", "value": "I'm impressed Jeremy's still with us, given he's at least ten years older than we are." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Reckless Alibi is on the map now,\" he says proudly. \"It's only going to escalate from here. With SummerStage coming up, I can promise you things will happen quickly. Get ready for the ride. Most of you have worked your whole life for this.\"\n\nUnlike the rest of the band, Crew isn't thinking of fame and fortune. He's thinking of the overzealous fans and potential threats." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Jeremy, I need to talk to you about something.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Shoot.\"\n\n\"We need security at all shows and major appearances. You saw the crowd tonight. This is the tip of the iceberg.\"\n\n\"But we can't afford it,\" I say.\n\n\"We don't have to. I went through our contract with a fine-tooth comb. Security is IRL's responsibility. They have to provide it when the band feels threatened. You saw those guys put their hands on Bria tonight. It's time to do this.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Jeremy's expression sours. \"Ronni won't go for it. They've already invested a lot of money in you.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Looks like they're about to start cashing in on that,\" Crew says. \"Ronni doesn't have much of a choice. They'll be in breach of contract if they don't provide security. You know how she's always threatening us with that shit? Now it's our turn. If they don't want to do it, they don't have to. They can release us, and we'll find someone who will. And I think it's safe to say that we won't have any trouble finding a new label.\"\n\nJeremy frowns. \"You guys feel threatened?\"\n\nGarrett, Liam, and Brad stand behind Crew and me. \"We do.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Jeremy stands and straightens his shirt." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Looks like I have to call a meeting with IRL. Leave it to me.\"\n\nHe leaves the five of us to close the place down. \"He's definitely growing on me,\" I say.\n\nThe waitress comes over with one last tray of shots." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Two million views,\" Liam says, handing them out." }, { "from": "system", "value": "Your next one should be approximately two sentences." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"On three? One, two, three.\"\n\n\"Let's get reckless!\"" } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Today you will be acting as a writing assistant, your partner will send something and you will write the next 4 sentences." }, { "from": "human", "value": "SummerStage is New York's largest outdoor music festival." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "It runs all summer long, with concerts in many of the city parks in all five boroughs. Performing acts range from local artists to nationally known bands. Events happen almost every day, and today Reckless Alibi is headlining on the Central Park main stage.\n\nI shake my head in disbelief, thinking again how influential Dirk must be to have gotten us this gig." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Not that we're getting paid." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Artists perform for free, but that doesn't matter. The exposure is what counts. Unlike when we opened for White Poison, we're the main act. Bands are opening for us." }, { "from": "human", "value": "The past few weeks are a blur." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Everything happened so quickly after the release of our music video. The best clubs in the tristate area are demanding we play for them. Ronni and Jeremy are weeding through offers. Video views have climbed to numbers I never imagined." }, { "from": "human", "value": "IRL begrudgingly agreed to security—one man at shows and appearances." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "I seldom get nervous before a performance, but it's different this time. The new song I've been working on isn't something we planned. It isn't in the lineup. We're going rogue by playing it, and it's going to blindside Bria." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Girls love that grand gesture shit, don't they?" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "My bandmates agreed to it though they know it will piss off Ronni. Hell, they probably agreed to it because it will piss her off.\n\nWe didn't have time to score the whole thing, but with some minor changes, we were able to alter one of the existing songs for my new lyrics. We practiced it only a few times after Bria left rehearsal." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Bruce, don't forget to pick up Bria,\" I say from the backseat." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"I'm on it.\"\n\n\"You okay?\" Liam asks. \"You look a little pale.\"\n\n\"I'm good.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Is this about the song? If you don't think you can do it, give us a sign, and we'll play the original. She'll never be the wiser.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "I'm relieved to have an out if I need it.\n\n\"What do you think about Thor?\" he asks.\n\nThomas Horton is our new security guy. We nicknamed him Thor." }, { "from": "human", "value": "He started last weekend when we played the club in Brooklyn." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Big guy. I'm grateful for that. Liam pulled him aside and told him to stick close to Bria. I'm grateful for that too. I finally felt like I could breathe, knowing nobody could get to her." }, { "from": "human", "value": "She signed autographs and posed for pictures, but no one tried anything with a brick wall standing next to her." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "After the show, she let me walk her home. I still worry about her. She can't have a bodyguard twenty-four-seven. It's one of the issues I'm working through with Dr. Hardy." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Bruce pulls to the curb." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "I text Bria we're here. I get out and wait for her at the door. When she opens it, she looks green.\n\n\"Are you sick?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"I just threw up, but I'm pretty sure it's nerves.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Nerves? You sang with White Poison in front of ten thousand people. This is nothing compared to that.\"\n\n\"Except when I was with them, people weren't there to see me. Nobody cared who the girl standing twenty feet behind the lead singer was.\"\n\n\"Would it make you feel any better to know I'm nervous, too?\"\n\n\"Chris Rewey, nervous? I don't buy it.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "I take her hand and lead her to the van." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "I smile when she doesn't wiggle away. \"We're all nervous on some level. This could be our make-or-break concert. They've heard us on the radio. They've seen our music video. They're coming to see if we're the real deal.\"\n\nShe hesitates before getting in the van. \"You're not helping.\"\n\n\"Sorry. Maybe it will rain and nobody will show up.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "I wink as she gets inside." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Liam checks his phone. \"The weather will be perfect. We couldn't have picked a better day. We might sweat our asses off, though. It's supposed to be hot.\"\n\nGarrett tells jokes on the way to ease the tension. Brad says he's thinking of proposing to Katie." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Bria says, \"You should do it with a song onstage. It would be epic. Crew and I can write one for you.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Brad laughs. \"I'm not proposing to my girl in front of thousands of people.\"\n\n\"Girls like romantic stuff like that,\" she says.\n\nWhen Bruce pulls into our designated spot, Jeremy, Ronni, and Thor are waiting. We're hours early. Bruce has to set up our equipment and do a sound check." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Then the opening acts do theirs." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "After the gates open, we'll wait another few hours for them to finish their sets. We won't go on until eight o'clock tonight, four hours from now. Because we're the headliners today.\n\n\"What are we going to do for four hours?\" Garrett asks." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"There's a tent over here,\" Jeremy says." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"You can relax and hang out. Eat, drink, sleep if you want. There are couches.\"\n\n\"Sleep. Right,\" Brad says sarcastically.\n\n\"Is there a toilet?\" Bria asks. \"In case I have to throw up again.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Ronni shoots her a biting stare." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Good lord, Brianna. Try to act like a professional, won't you?\"\n\nBria laughs disingenuously. \"You mean professional like Adele, who has readily admitted to vomiting before a lot of performances?\"\n\n\"Ozzy has extreme stage fright,\" I add. \"Ozzy fucking Osbourne. Even after all these years.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"And let's not forget the legendary Eddie Van Halen,\" Liam says." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"His stage fright led to alcohol abuse.\"\n\nRonni rolls her eyes and walks away from us and into the tent.\n\n\"Actually,\" Jeremy says, cracking a smile, \"Ronni and I have something to discuss with you.\"\n\nI study him. \"You're smiling. You never smile. What's up?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"I'll let Ronni tell you, but it may help keep your mind off your anxiety, Bria.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "I love that he calls her Bria now, much to Ronni's displeasure.\n\nJeremy holds the tarp door of the tent aside, and we go in. Ronni is pouring champagne into seven flutes.\n\nShe hands one to each of us." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"I have great news. Reckless Alibi is going on tour.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Did I hear her correctly? Is this a joke or should we be jumping up and down?\n\n\"It's true,\" Jeremy says.\n\n\"Are you shitting me?\" Garrett asks." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Jeremy's smile grows even bigger as he holds up his glass." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Bria jumps into my arms, spilling her champagne, then Liam, Garrett, and Brad join us in a group hug. We yell and high-five and dance around. How many years have I been waiting for this moment?\n\n\"Don't get too excited,\" Ronni says." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"You haven't heard the details.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Of course it's not as good as it seems. This is Ronni we're talking about. \"What's the catch?\" I ask.\n\n\"The tour will be limited to one state—Florida. We're still hammering things out. Smaller venues, like the clubs you play here. A few larger outdoor amphitheaters for the spring-breakers.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"We're going to Florida during spring break?\" Garrett asks." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Jeremy looks almost as excited as the five of us. \"For most of March into April. Millions of teens and young adults will vacation there. After they see you, they'll be buying your albums and telling friends back home. It has the potential to be a major stepping-stone.\"\n\n\"By the time you get back, you could be on the brink of celebrity,\" Ronni says. \"We have seven months to prepare. More music videos have to be made and released, and at least one more album. Two would be better.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Liam is in a slump, and we know it." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "His jubilance abates. \"Two more albums? In seven months? No fucking way. We'll be lucky to put out one. I haven't been feeling it lately.\"\n\nRonni reproaches him. \"I suggest you figure out a way to write the damn music for their lyrics, Liam. It's nonnegotiable.\"\n\n\"He will,\" I say, stepping forward. \"We'll get out an album by then.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"I said or two,\" Ronni clarifies." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"One,\" I say. \"That's all we'll agree to or no deal.\"\n\n\"The deal's already done, Crew, or have you forgotten I make the decisions around here?\"\n\n\"One album, Ronni.\"\n\nShe drinks her champagne and pours another." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Goddamn musicians. I hate all of you.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Liam pulls me aside. \"Thanks for having my back.\"\n\n\"Always, brother. You know that.\" I grip his shoulder." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"It'll happen. You'll be inspired when you least expect it.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He follows my eyes as I stare at Bria.\n\n\"I don't want a girlfriend,\" he says. \"You, more than anyone, should know that.\"\n\n\"I didn't say you had to be inspired by a girl. Maybe it'll be a song. A car. Hell, maybe a tree in Central Park will do it.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "I get an idea and go over to Bria." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Want to take a walk with me? Might help calm your nerves.\"\n\nShe finishes her drink and sets down the glass. \"I'd like that.\"\n\nWe stroll away from the stage and all the hustle and bustle. I want to take her hand, but I'm afraid it might spur a conversation I don't want to have." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Talk about us can wait until after she hears what I'm going to say to her in front of a thousand people." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Damn—now I feel sick again.\n\n\"You're awfully quiet today,\" she says. \"Pretty unlike you.\"\n\n\"I guess I'm still trying to process everything. We're going on tour? That's mind-blowing, Bria. I've barely been out of the tristate area.\"\n\n\"It'll be fun. Do you think anyone down there knows who we are?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"I'll bet Ronni will make sure of it before we go. She'll contact radio stations, set up interviews, and arrange press conferences and whatever else she thinks we need.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "A man jogs toward us. He does a double take and circles back. My heartrate skyrockets.\n\n\"You're the singers for Reckless Alibi,\" he says, jogging in place.\n\nI stiffen. \"That's right.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "He stops jogging and looks at Bria like he wants to fuck her." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Brianna and … sorry, can't remember your name.\"\n\nI'll bet you can't. Anger, fear, and pure hatred crawl up my spine. It's not him, I say over and over in my head." }, { "from": "human", "value": "I take a breath and try to remember what Dr. Hardy told me to do in situations like this." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "I hold out my hand. \"I'm Crew. What's your name?\"\n\n\"Greg.\" He shakes my hand and then Bria's.\n\n\"You like our music?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "I ask. \"Do you have a favorite song?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Ah, man, I like all of them, but 'Sins on Sunday' is my favorite. My wife loves 'Not a Day.' She sings it all the time. She's not as good as you guys, but I gotta love her for trying.\"\n\nHis wife. He tells us about seeing us for the first time at a club last month, and I realize he's not looking at Bria like he wants to fuck her. He's looking at her—at me—with awe.\n\n\"Hey, she'd kill me if I didn't get a picture with you. Do you mind?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"We'd be happy to,\" Bria says." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "She turns to me. \"Right?\"\n\n\"Sure.\"\n\nGreg stands between us and snaps a selfie. \"Claire is gonna freak.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Are you coming to the show later?\" Bria asks." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Normally her saying something like that would have my skin crawling. Now, not so much.\n\n\"Wouldn't miss it,\" he says. \"Especially now. Thanks for the picture and for taking time to talk to me. Not many people like you will do that.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"We hope you enjoy the show.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "I blow out a breath after he leaves. \"That could have gone a lot worse.\"\n\n\"Most fans are like that,\" she says. \"If you give them a chance.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "She glares at me." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Yeah, yeah, I get it. Hey, at least you didn't have to use the safeword.\"\n\n\"Crew, I'll never use the safeword.\"\n\nI give her a heated stare. \"Never?\"\n\nShe blushes. I haven't seen her do that in a month. My dick thickens." }, { "from": "human", "value": "She clears her throat." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Yup, she's thinking about it too. \"Do you think we'll need Thor in Florida?\"\n\n\"I'll insist on it,\" I say.\n\n\"You like having him around, don't you?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Yes.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"I've seen some big changes in you, Chris, and not just today.\"\n\n\"I don't want to brag or anything, but Dr. Hardy called me one of her favorite patients.\"\n\nShe chuckles. \"You do realize she probably says that to all her patients.\"\n\n\"No way.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "We walk for hours, speculating what it might be like on tour." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "My phone buzzes with a text. \"Looks like Queen Bitch wants us back.\"\n\nBria pales. \"Oh, God. Do you think she'll go with us to Florida?\"\n\n\"I doubt it. We're just one of her clients. But I'm sure Jeremy will come.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"That's fine. I like Jeremy.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"He's not so bad, compared to Veronica.\"\n\nMy melodramatic pronunciation of her name amuses her. Then her smile disappears. \"Does she still come on to you?\"" } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Let's engage in a collaborative writing exercise. I'll provide a starting point, and You'll continue with 4 sentences in the style of Various." }, { "from": "system", "value": "Produce a starting prompt please." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Hadleigh settled into the group with ease. To be fair, she'd probably spent the last year or two of her fledgling military career being tested by the officers around her, and some of the soldiers who wouldn't be able to help themselves.\n\nI hoped that she'd given them a brilliant smile and verbally put them back in their boxes.\n\nOur traditional round of poker had started by the time Hadleigh returned to the table, flicking on the lights as she entered the room." }, { "from": "human", "value": "The windows outside still showed a hint of colour in a darkening sky." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "I hadn't chased her when she'd left after our round of prayers for our lost comrades; if she wanted company, she knew where we were. And besides, I knew what it was like to need time to myself and not to be able to take it.\n\n\"Who's losing?\" she asked, slipping back into the chair beside me.\n\nFive hands raised and pointed at Joker." }, { "from": "human", "value": "He grinned and turned his cards outward. Nothing matched." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Groans rose around the table as he flourished them and pushed a bet forward.\n\n\"Why do you do it?\" King turned to stare at his friend.\n\n\"I accept my fate, and there's nothing I can do about it, except weather whatever trial Ace chooses to put us through.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Uh huh. And are you going to whine the entire time?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"But of course.\" Joker's British accent slipped through the Aussie twang he had picked up after his time in the SAS.\n\nHelix snored beneath my seat, and Hadleigh sent the dog a sympathetic glance. \"I know how you feel,\" she whispered.\n\nI hid a grin behind my cards." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Alright boys, who's still in?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "I slid the rest of my toothpicks forward.\n\n\"Always,\" King wiggled his cards at me. He pushed his toothpicks across the table, mirroring me. \"All in.\"\n\n\"Seen, mate.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Is he bluffing?\" Hadleigh murmured at my side, staring at the younger man as if she couldn't quite understand what he was about." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"He doesn't care if he loses.\"\n\n\"Why?\" Her brow creased, and it might have been the cutest thing I'd seen in a while.\n\nI need to get out more.\n\nBut that was rather the point of a black ops unit; there was no leaving or time off mission." }, { "from": "human", "value": "We kept going until the job was done." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "And the job always kept coming.\n\n\"Because he thinks he's a hard soldier and can take anything.\" Joker grinned while King glared daggers at him.\n\n\"No pretending here.\" The younger soldier straightened his shoulders, his crystal blue gaze piercing a point in the wall above the twins' heads." }, { "from": "human", "value": "If anyone had a point to prove, it would be King." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "I hoped he knew his place in the unit was solid, despite the verbal roughhousing, else we had a talk coming on. But then, growing up as an army brat, he likely knew the rigmarole better than the rest of us.\n\n\"What are you betting?\" Hadleigh twiddled with a stray toothpick, turning between her fingers while the Tran twins had a mini confab behind their hands." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Team building activity for January one,\" Joker replied for me, leaning back in his chair." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"If King wins, we're up for a seventy-two hour recon exercise. If the boys win,\" he nodded in the direction of the twins, \"we'll be practicing undercover technique in drag. Probably in Thailand. If it's Hearts, it'll be some medical drama.\"\n\n\"What about if you win?\" Hadleigh turned to me.\n\n\"Predawn packmarch up Walsh's Pyramid on New Year's Day. Timed.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "More groans circulated around the table." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Hadleigh winced in sympathy. Flicking my cards, I made sure to meet each pair of eyes that stared back at me. Every man at the table might have their brother's back, but not one of them could bluff. Except maybe King. \"You boys ready?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "The twins pushed their conglomerate wealth across the table. \"We're in.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Double cat's-got-the-cream smiles returned my own.\n\n\"He's not playing with a full deck,\" Joker murmured, nudging King.\n\nI raised an eyebrow and said nothing.\n\n\"Nah,\" King grinned. \"He doesn't need a full deck. He's got four aces.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Counting cards is illegal,\" I said in a soft voice." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Beside me, Hadleigh shivered.\n\n\"Since when did we do legal?\" King placed his cards one after the other on the table top with pizzazz. \"Ta-daa.\"\n\nI stared at them." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"That's worse than Joker's hand.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Is that possible?\" Queen asked as the twins laid their hands out side by side.\n\nTwo pairs each, all royalty.\n\nI smirked. \"Did you set the deck, boys?\" The boys shook their heads." }, { "from": "human", "value": "My grin got bigger." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Because it's pack march time.\" The groans got louder as I set the four aces King had called me on down. \"Merry Christmas, boys.\" Leaving them to whine in my absence, I pushed back from the table, careful not to disturb Helix where she snored under my chair, and slipped out the door.\n\nThe boys were already jabbering behind me as I left, scooping my phone from on top of a random bookcase, but a soft set of footfalls that followed me through the house to the back deck reminded me I wasn't alone." }, { "from": "human", "value": "I slipped my hands into my pockets, slowing my pace as I circuited the back of the building." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "A warm breath brushed my bicep. \"You're very close, aren't you?\"\n\nHadleigh inclined her head. The ends of her hair tickled my shoulder, lifted by the cool breeze that swept in across the ocean, salt mixing with the berry candles Queen had lit earlier for our brief celebration. \"Your men. Unit.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Even with heels on, Hadleigh didn't quite reach my shoulder." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "But the energy contained within her slight frame told me she was likely a spitfire of a pocket rocket.\n\n\"We have to be.\" I folded my arms across my chest to keep from touching her. I'd known her for a few hours, and I refused to let a woman who had whisked into my life and would whisk right out again upset the delicate status quo that I'd spent so many months building within the unit." }, { "from": "human", "value": "We were all single, and we were all expendable." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "This time next year, I fully expected to see new faces within our ranks and more empty chairs around our table.\n\nOne of them could be mine.\n\nWhich was why I had zero option to be involved with anyone at all. I couldn't be responsible for their grief in the long term." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Life and death, and all that.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "She stared out over the water, her brow dipped the tiniest amount.\n\n\"Something like that.\" I studied her from the corner of my eye. \"You're not used to military life, are you? I don't recommend trying for a relationship while you're shipped around the country. It's temporary,\" I warned her, unable to contain my bitter laugh.\n\nShe huffed a laugh, pushing golden hair that lifted around her head like a halo back with both hands." }, { "from": "human", "value": "The wind whipped the ends until it was a mess and she gave up trying to contain it." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Something like the woman I suspected she was inside.\n\nAnd besides, I sort of liked this untamed side of her. Part of me grieved that I would never know more about this woman, but I knew the risks when I signed on to lead Z Unit, and bartered my freedom for Helix's.\n\n\"The names you said, around the table,\" she said finally. \"Who were they?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "I think you know exactly what those names mean." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "But I didn't say it; didn't want to ruin the moment I wished to prolong before she walked away.\n\n\"The chairs are for the friends and family we've lost, and the names are the men who filled them.\" And the list only gets longer every year.\n\nThe words hung between us, unspoken." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"It's a beautiful tradition.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "I snorted. \"It could be a short-lived one. We're rarely home, and we never stop. Except maybe tonight.\"\n\n\"But you're still on duty,\" she murmured softly.\n\n\"Aren't we all?\" I stared sightlessly into the darkened sky.\n\n\"Who was he? Tobias...\" Hadleigh's frown deepened." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Sing. Tobias Sing.\" I sighed, running a hand over my hair." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Closing my eyes, I tipped my head back, a clean shaven face filling my mind. So enthusiastic, and he'd memorised every rule in the book. But there was only so much those rules could teach a man. \"It was his first operation, and I was his first commanding officer, fresh out of training myself. Even I never met someone so gung-ho. The men heaped insults at him, but he shook it off, and always asked what else he could do. So, I gave him extra gate duty. It was opportune. One of our boys had been flown out, injured, and we had a gap in the roster. Tobias took it. And that night, when mortars flew into the camp, one landed right next to him. It was...well. A mess doesn't cover it. That was seventeen years ago, and I've never forgotten him.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "And I never would." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "My voice cracked on the last word.\n\nHadleigh was silent, though she swayed toward me.\n\nI squeezed my fingers into a fist, pushing down on the urge to touch her, to slide an arm around her waist.\n\n\"We lose so many, and when they're young—\" She gestured at the empty air in front of her." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Pretty much,\" I murmured, watching her." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Her choice of words hadn't been lost on me.\n\nAs though sensing my assessment of her, she wrapped her arms around herself. \"You're not the only one who has led a changed life,\" she said finally, dropping her hands to her sides, though she refused to meet my gaze, her brow dipped. Fine lines crinkled around her eyes, belaying age and experience I hadn't expected to see." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"There are different wars to fight on different fronts.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "I frowned, turning to her, but the few lines on her face from before were gone, and her face was smooth again.\n\nToo smooth, and too much like a mask for my liking. A mask I knew all too well, because it mirrored my own.\n\nI opened my mouth to respond with a smart comment or something light, but for the second time in a few moments, her words gave me pause." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Because those words echoed something my ex-commanding officer had said, years ago, before he left the Army." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Laced with too much truth to brush off, I couldn't make light of them. That was Joker's department.\n\nAnd since I couldn't ask her, couldn't risk becoming involved, when I opened my mouth the next time I gave her a piece of my truth.\n\n\"Everyone comes home different. Don't listen to what they tell you. No one leaves the desert unchanged.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Hadleigh nodded, turning to face me." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Thank you for feeding me. And tea. And...furry cuddles.\" She smiled, and I thought it was her real one. Maybe.\n\n\"She's getting spoiled.\" I shook my head, unable to hide my grin.\n\nHadleigh raised an eyebrow." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Getting? That ship has long since sailed, boy.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "I huffed a laugh. \"It's been a long time since someone called me 'boy'. You're full of surprises, Hadleigh Rawson.\"\n\nHer lips pursed, but there was no disguising the mischief in her eyes. \"Is that so? Then I'll give you another.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "She rose onto her toes, wrapping her arms around my shoulders." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Her body pressed lightly to mine, her warmth seeping through to me as her lips brushed my ear, then pressed to my cheek in a brief, chaste kiss. \"I'll be seeing you again, Major.\"\n\nI blinked as she stepped back, still smiling at me.\n\n\"Thank you for giving me a memorable Christmas, Hadleigh.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Her laugh was my only answer as she disappeared around the side of the house, her heels clicking a smart pace over the path." }, { "from": "system", "value": "Next message should be approximately 1 sentence." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Then the sound disappeared altogether." } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Let's engage in a collaborative writing exercise. I'll provide a starting point, and You'll continue with 4 sentences in the style of Annie Proulx." }, { "from": "system", "value": "Produce a starting prompt please." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "In December Ennis married Alma Beers and had her pregnant by mid-January. He picked up a few short-lived ranch jobs, then settled in as a wrangler on the old Elwood Hi-Top place north of Lost Cabin in Washakie County. He was still working there in September when Alma Jr., as he called his daughter, was born and their bedroom was full of the smell of old blood and milk and baby shit, and the sounds were of squalling and sucking and Alma's sleepy groans, all reassuring of fecundity and life's continuance to one who worked with livestock.\n\nWhen the Hi-Top folded they moved to a small apartment in Riverton up over a laundry." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Ennis got on the highway crew, tolerating it but working weekends at the Rafter B in exchange for keeping his horses out there." }, { "from": "system", "value": "Next message should be approximately 5 sentences." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The second girl was born and Alma wanted to stay in town near the clinic because the child had an asthmatic wheeze.\n\n\"Ennis, please, no more damn lonesome ranches for us,\" she said, sitting on his lap, wrapping her thin, freckled arms around him. \"Let's get a place here in town?\"\n\n\"I guess,\" said Ennis, slipping his hand up her blouse sleeve and stirring the silky armpit hair, then easing her down, fingers moving up her ribs to the jelly breast, over the round belly and knee and up into the wet gap all the way to the north pole or the equator depending which way you thought you were sailing, working at it until she shuddered and bucked against his hand and he rolled her over, did quickly what she hated. They stayed in the little apartment which he favored because it could be left at any time." } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "The user will write a bit then you need to write around four sentences continuing directly from the user's text. Try to mimic the style of Annie Proulx.Produce four sentences using the prose and structure of Annie Proulx every time its your turn using what the user wrote as a seed." }, { "from": "system", "value": "Produce a starting prompt please." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "They were no longer young men with all of it before them. Jack had filled out through the shoulders and hams, Ennis stayed as lean as a clothes-pole, stepped around in worn boots, jeans and shirts summer and winter, added a canvas coat in cold weather. A benign growth appeared on his eyelid and gave it a drooping appearance, a broken nose healed crooked.\n\nYears on years they worked their way through the high meadows and mountain drainages, horse-spacking into the Big Horns, Medicine Bows, south end of the Gallatins, Absarokas, Granites, Owl Creeks, the Bridger-Teton Range, the Freezeouts and the Shirleys, Ferrises and the Rattlesnakes, Salt River Range, into the Wind Rivers over and again, the Sierra Madres, Gros Ventres, the Washakies, Laramies, but never returning to Brokeback." } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Write four sentences sentences in the style of Melissa Storm spawning from what the user wrote." }, { "from": "human", "value": "The next morning, Ellie checked the mirror once more and tucked a piece of hair behind her ear." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Smiling to herself, she couldn't help but think how mortified her mother would be if she were here right now. In the time Ellie had stayed with her after the accident, all she'd heard was how the real Ellie would never be caught in public with a ponytail in her hair and no makeup on her face.\n\nToday, she had applied a touch of mascara to go with her lip gloss. And though she'd stopped there, Ellie had debated putting on a full face of concealer, foundation, and bronzer to help hide her scars from Landon's attentive eye." }, { "from": "human", "value": "But in the end, she'd decided wearing all that makeup for riding seemed a bit much and might give Landon the wrong idea." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Making her way outside, Ellie closed her eyes and lifted her face to the warmth of the sun. Birds still sung from high atop the trees that dotted the landscape. Their voices had been the first thing she'd heard upon waking this morning, and she suspected they'd be with her the whole day long. She liked that, knowing she could count on something." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Ellie approached the corral with a slight spring in her step, made even springier by the fact she still had a bit of a limp." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Her favorite horse, Penny, lifted her head from where she stood grazing on the far side of the enclosure. There were a few other horses in the pen with Penny who glanced Ellie's way, only briefly interrupted from their morning grazing routine. Liz had told her they had several large pastures dispersed across the ranch and that that's where a lot of the horses would be. Most stayed in the larger pens on the opposite side of the property where they could enjoy the fresh grass and a broader expanse of land." }, { "from": "human", "value": "They were only brought up to the smaller pens for very specific reasons like injury, pregnancy, or rehabilitation." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The latter was the case for Penny, and even though Ellie would miss being able to see the gentle brown mare from her cabin window, she sincerely hoped that Penny would soon find herself in the bigger pasture with the others.\n\nDespite arriving at the exact time Landon had specified, Ellie couldn't find him anywhere. Remembering that patience was, indeed, a virtue—even though she secretly wished she could have grabbed a few more minutes sleep—she loped over to the fence to spend some time with the horses as she waited. She leaned against the top rail and put her hand out to see if she could coax any of them over." }, { "from": "human", "value": "She half expected to get bitten, but the other half of her knew just how silly that fear was." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Her dad had told Ellie that she used to love being around horses, otherwise she'd never have let him convince her to check in at the ranch. Even though her emotional memory was badly broken, her muscle memory would take over once she hopped on the saddle. Oh, she hoped that would be the case! Otherwise, catching up on Liz's three re's would be even harder than expected." }, { "from": "human", "value": "As Ellie tried to remember what the third re stood for, a light colored horse stepped toward her with spindly knees." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Ellie's heart raced as it drew near, but as soon as she was able to see it up close, a refreshing calmness washed over her. There was no mistaking the gentleness in this creature's eyes. Although it had huge teeth and strong legs, it would never knowingly hurt her. She knew that now." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Well, aren't you just the sweetest thing ever?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Ellie cooed as she reached up to stroke the horse's long neck.\n\nThe gentle animal stepped closer, obviously enjoying the attention as he pushed his head onto her shoulder. Ellie laughed and moved one hand to the other side of his neck to make sure she gave equal attention to the whole expanse of coarse, scratchy hair. She leaned her head into the warmth of his and let herself enjoy the feeling of peace that came over her." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"I guess my dad was right,\" Ellie said with a laugh of disbelief." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "She would never have believed she'd feel such a strong bond with these animals, but even these few stolen moments with this gentle creature had shown her just how much she must have always loved them.\n\nNo longer afraid, Ellie hauled herself over the fence, careful not to rattle any of her still healing bones. It hurt, but a good kind of hurt—a familiar hurt. She moved up beside the horse and stroked his sides as his tail whipped back and forth in an attempt to keep the bugs away." }, { "from": "human", "value": "As much as she was enjoying the company of this horse, Ellie still found herself seeking out Penny on the opposite side of the enclosure." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Poor thing! She could even see the fear in the horse's eyes from here, and she would give anything to be the one to make her feel better at last, to move toward the life she deserved, the one she was owed.\n\nCreeping toward her with the utmost care, Ellie put her hands out in front to show that she had nothing that could hurt her—just as she had seen Landon do the day before. \"It's okay, girl. I promise I'm not going to hurt you.\" She spoke the words quietly, hoping to soothe the horse as she approached." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Still, Penny's eyes never left hers." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"What happened to you, sweet girl? Who hurt you so bad?\" If she kept talking, would it ease the horse's fear? Even though she didn't have the same experience Landon did, could she somehow reach this horse? Could she find a way to help?" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Ellie had journeyed halfway across the pen when Penny backed up with an agitated whinny, stomping her feet at Ellie in warning." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Of course, Ellie knew she was being foolish to think she'd be able to touch the horse when the trained professionals hadn't even been able to. But there was something in the horse's gaze that just begged her to try.\n\nIt was as though she sensed a comrade in Ellie—that she knew she'd been hurt, too. And now that she thought of it, she identified with Penny herself." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Wasn't her mother basically trying to turn her into a show pony, but instead of strutting around equestrian events, she'd strolled the catwalks of Paris?" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "She doubted her mother had ever hit her, but she'd certainly kept Ellie in a pen, confined by the dreams she had for her daughter. What if Ellie wanted to run free? What if she wanted to gallop?\n\nEllie chuckled softly. \"Now you've got me thinking crazy thoughts, you silly horse.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Penny snorted nervously in reply, but she didn't make any additional effort to move away." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Once they were only a few feet apart, Ellie stopped and reached her hands out. \"C'mon, sweetheart. You know you want someone to pet you.\"\n\nPenny's eyes looked at the outstretched hands and she stepped to the side, shaking her head dramatically back and forth and flinging spittle at in Ellie in the process.\n\nStill, Ellie refused to give up on her." }, { "from": "human", "value": "She felt a special connection with Penny, and she was pretty sure the horse sensed it, too." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Carefully taking another step closer, Ellie felt Penny's breath on her hand as she snorted again. \"It's okay, Penny. I won't hurt you,\" she repeated.\n\nShe saw herself reflected in the large, black eyes as she closed the rest of the distance between them. That was when she felt Penny accede." }, { "from": "human", "value": "She'd longed for a friend, for a touch of human kindness, and now—" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Hey! What are you doing?\" Landon shouted from somewhere behind them, startling both Ellie and Penny.\n\nEllie jumped back just as the horse reared up, and she jolted back out of its way before either of them could get hurt. Unfortunately, the injured human was no match for the spooked horse when it came to either speed or strength." }, { "from": "human", "value": "As Penny whipped past, Ellie lost her footing and crashed onto the earth below." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "She landed on her front, keeping her head covered by her hands. When she knew she was no longer in danger of getting trampled on, she pushed herself onto her knees and glared at the man who now stood before her with a concerned expression pinching his features together.\n\n\"Ellie, are you all right?\" he asked, practically out of breath as he dropped to his haunches to inspect her for fresh injuries." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"I'm fine, no thanks to you,\" she growled, pulling away from his touch." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Why did you have to shout like that? You know how Penny is, and we'd… she'd almost let me touch her. You ruined everything. Now I doubt she'll ever let me close to her again!\"\n\n\"I…\" Landon sputtered. Instead of finishing his thought, he put his hand out to help her regain her footing.\n\nEllie ignored it and struggled up on her own, avoiding his gaze as she bent over to brush all the dirt off her clothes. \"Just leave me alone,\" she grumbled, wondering how easily she could slip past him to hit the trail back to her cabin." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Would he try to follow, or would he have the good sense to let her leave?" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Well, excuse me!\" he burst out, startling her. \"I wasn't expecting to see the woman who said she can't even remember if she likes horses standing right next to our most dangerous horse in the field. She's almost trampled me more times than I can count. You're a guest here on the ranch and we are supposed to make sure you don't get hurt—not welcome you into a pen with a horse that could kill you.\"\n\nShe lifted her eyes and squinted slightly. \"I'm a grown woman. I'm pretty sure I can make my own decisions.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "But even as she said the words, Ellie knew she had, indeed, been foolish to get so close to Penny." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Landon was right, but like heck she'd admit that. Her pride stung and her limbs ached. She'd had more than enough for one morning.\n\nLandon crossed his arms in front of his chest and raised one defiant eyebrow." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"If you had the sense, you'd have stayed out of the pen.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Well, I guess, according to you, I don't have sense. Is that settled? Because I'm going now.\" She huffed as she swung herself back over the fence. Everything hurt so bad she almost cried, but luckily the tears stayed hidden for the moment.\n\n\"Where are you going? It's time for your riding lesson.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Landon's voice called out from behind her." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "She didn't even bother to look back. \"Yeah, I'm going to pass on that. I mean, we've already established that I have no sense and shouldn't be around horses if I can help it. So thanks, but no thanks. And goodbye.\" She didn't care if she sounded like a spoiled child who had just been reprimanded.\n\nShe couldn't even stand to look at Landon right now, but even more than him, she was angry with herself." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Is that what would happen when she had all her memories back—that she'd constantly find new ways to be disappointed in herself?" }, { "from": "system", "value": "Your next one should be approximately one sentence." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Because if so, maybe forgetting wasn't actually the worst thing in the world." } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Provide 4 sentences as a continuation." }, { "from": "system", "value": "Produce a starting prompt please." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "For the next couple days, Ellie avoided answering her mother's calls. Even though she longed to learn more about Marshall, she needed to prepare her heart first.\n\nAnd so she'd spent much of her time sitting with Penny near the corral and taking pictures around the ranch. She also requested extra therapy sessions and even took on more than her fair share of chores to keep her mind busy while her heart sorted through all it had learned since the accident." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Today Elizabeth Jane had insisted she treat Ellie to another special lunch at Anna's in downtown Anchorage." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"It's to thank you for all the extra work you've been putting in around here,\" she'd explained.\n\nAnd now they sat over heaping plates of freshly fried Halibut as they carefully sifted through the prints Ellie had ordered online. She couldn't believe how fast the pictures arrived and how good it felt to hold the physical proof of her creative work right there in her own two hands.\n\n\"I still can't believe you took all of these yourself!\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Liz gushed as she studied each glossy photo after the next." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"There were so many more.\" Ellie burst with pride as Liz oohed and ahhed over her art. \"I tried to pick the best ones to print off, though I kind of wanted to get them all. This is maybe like a tenth of what's on my memory card.\"\n\n\"Are you sure you were a model before? I mean, not that you're not gorgeous. But these, Ellie, these are really something else. You had to be a pro!\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"From what I know of my life before, I sincerely doubt it. Back then I was all about standing out, but now I like to blend in. See that one of the fox?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "she said, thumbing back a couple prints to bring out the picture she had in mind. \"It came out from the woods while I was sitting at the creek. He saw me and everything, but there was no fear as I lifted my camera and got my shot. It's like he just intrinsically trusted me.\"\n\n\"You do have quite the way with animals from what I hear,\" Liz said, lightly touching her thumb to the tiny fox face in the photo. \"Penny is like a changed horse.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Ellie smiled sheepishly and shrugged." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Not yet, but we are certainly getting there. She didn't need to change. She was already perfect. She just needed others to see that, too.\"\n\nLiz shook her head. \"Hmm, sounds like somebody else I know, too.\"\n\nEllie smiled to herself." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Could Liz be right?" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "It was so hard not knowing who she'd been before or who she was meant to be now. She flipped through the remaining stack of photos and lifted one of Penny into the light. \"Speaking of everyone's favorite rescue horse, I thought maybe you could use this one on the website for the ranch or maybe some of your brochures.\"\n\nLiz took the picture from Ellie's hands and studied it close up." }, { "from": "human", "value": "This was the favorite of all Ellie's works so far." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Not just because of her bond with Penny, but also because the morning mist creeping through the background looked like something out of a dream.\n\nSpecifically, her dreams…\n\n\"Thank you,\" Liz said, handing the photo back so Ellie could place them all back into the envelope for safekeeping. \"I think I'll do just that. Now tell me what else you've been up to these past few days. I feel like I've missed out on so much as I spend all my free time getting ready for our end of summer barn dance. I barely even see my own husband anymore!\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Ellie took a sip of her iced tea and waved a hand absently in Liz's direction." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Don't worry about it, seriously. I've been having a great time hanging out with the horses, snapping pictures, and just being myself.\"\n\nShe looked down at the shiny surface of the table before her. \"Whoever that is.\"\n\n\"I think you're starting to find her,\" Liz whispered consolingly. \"And once you do, I'm sure your memories will start to come back.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Ellie lifted her eyes and looked at Liz." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Just how much should she share? And why was she so reluctant to do so?\n\nIn the few days since talking to Landon in the pasture when the memory of her mystery man had come so close, Ellie had started getting other small glimpses into the past now, too. She hadn't told anyone because she'd been afraid it was just wishful thinking on her part." }, { "from": "human", "value": "But now sitting here with Liz, it felt safe to confide her newfound optimism…" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"This morning, I had a flash of driving my car,\" she started. \"I know it was the car that was wrecked in the accident, but I don't know if it was just before the crash or some time much earlier.\" She shivered as she recalled the feeling of the steering wheel in her grip, the brightness of the sun in her eyes. \"It felt very real.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Oh my gosh,\" Liz squealed." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"That's fantastic! What did your doctor say?\"\n\n\"Um, you're the first person I've told,\" Ellie admitted with a bashful smile. \"I guess I just wanted to wait and see if more would come through. I'm hoping once Mom finds this Marshall guy maybe something will click in my brain and everything will come back.\"\n\nOn the drive over to the restaurant she'd told Liz all about the mystery man in her dreams and how she thought she'd finally discovered his identity." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Liz had seemed skeptical and told her not to put too much hope on some strange man she wouldn't remember." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "So then why was she so excited about Ellie's simple memory of her car?\n\n\"If Marshall is the man you're trying to remember,\" Liz said, \"then I hope you don't just expect all of those feelings to come rushing back the moment you see him. Don't put too much pressure on yourself. Just… stay open.\"\n\nEllie tilted her head as she contemplated her friend's advice. \"Why are you so reluctant about my meeting Marshall? It's like you don't believe he's the right man.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Liz narrowed her eyes at Ellie." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Do you believe he's the right man?\"\n\nNow there was the million dollar question. All this time Ellie had assumed that finding her mystery dream man would be enough to bring everything back… But what if it wasn't? What if Marshall wasn't the one she was looking for?" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Or what if he actually was, but she still didn't recognize him?" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Both prospects terrified her.\n\nShe swallowed hard before answering. \"I honestly don't know what to think. But he's all I have to go on right now, so the sooner I can meet him, the sooner I'll know… something. I guess if my memories still don't come back I'll finally have to accept that the life I led before my accident is over.\"\n\nLiz sat quietly, studying her for what felt like hours before at last she spoke again." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"You know, I've gone back and forth a hundred times on whether I should say this. I still don't know what the right call is, but I'm just going to go for it.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Ellie pushed her plate away and waited for whatever words Elizabeth Jane had to impart on her.\n\nLiz also pushed her plate aside. \"Keep in mind I don't normally encourage our staff to become emotionally involved with guests. It isn't professional and, well, it isn't really fair to either party when one has come to heal and the other to make a living. Please just understand that what I'm about to say isn't something I normally would.\"\n\nLiz paused and widened her eyes as if waiting for Ellie to finish her statement for her." }, { "from": "human", "value": "And even though Ellie had a sense of what was coming next, she'd never admit it aloud." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "At last, Liz sighed and continued. \"Landon knows what happened to you and the struggle you're going through as you try to recover. And he always knew what the consequences could be of letting emotions get involved. His first priority is definitely to help you get better. But I can see what's happened—heck, everyone on the ranch, including old Howard can see it, and he's half blind.\"\n\nEllie bowed her head, unwilling to let Liz see the flush that overcome her.\n\n\"I don't know who this Marshall is, or if he's the one your heart is trying to find, but I do know that you can't just ignore what is happening with Landon.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Her voice turned tender." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"That might just be something that only happens once in a lifetime.\"\n\nEllie clenched her jaw tight, trying not to say anything that would make this whole situation even more difficult. No one seemed to understand why she needed to meet Marshall so badly. Instead they all wanted her to pursue something with Landon, even though she knew she wasn't ready yet." } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Today you will be acting as a writing assistant, your partner will send something and you will write the next four sentences." }, { "from": "system", "value": "Produce a starting prompt please." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Albany stood just inside Lady Cairs' ballroom, reminding himself why he'd come. Why he would brave the marriage mart. A chance to hold Emma in his arms was worth facing a horde of debutantes and their matchmaking mamas.\n\nDespite his advanced years, he was still an unattached male with a title." }, { "from": "human", "value": "His gaze moved over the crowd." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Emma stood to one side of the dance floor clad in a dark red ball gown. Beside her stood Lily and Lady Cairs.\n\nHe'd never been a favorite of Lady Cairs and he hadn't received an invitation to her ball. He was convinced his status as a bachelor would smooth over the breach of etiquette." }, { "from": "human", "value": "There was nothing for it, he had to present himself to his hostess." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Lord Albany, how lovely you could attend my soiree,\" Lady Cairs said as he came to a halt in front of the woman. \"I believe you know both Lady Uptons. London is so dull this year. Your presence will surely liven up my intimate gathering.\"\n\nThe 'intimate' event was attended by dozens of people. Although his first thought was to see if there was a gaming room, he wouldn't hide." }, { "from": "human", "value": "He'd committed to dancing with Lily and Emma." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Good evening, ladies.\" He bowed. \"Would you do me the honor of a dance, Lady Upton?\"\n\nEmma looked as if she would make an excuse not to dance before she replied, \"I would be delighted, Lord Albany.\"\n\nHe held out his arm and the dowager marchioness took it." }, { "from": "human", "value": "The undisguised interest on their hostess's face was laughable." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Lily merely nodded absently.\n\n\"I think I may have given Lady Cairs a new topic of gossip,\" he said, turning his head toward Emma as they walked the few short steps to the dance floor. A tendril of her jasmine perfume tickled his nose.\n\nEven as a young woman Emma had worn the heady scent when the other girls wore light, citrusy perfumes." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Her dark hair and dark eyes had been a foil to the blonde, blue-eyed crop of heiresses Louisa had invited to her house-party." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He pulled her into his arms for the steps of a waltz as he said, \"I do recall you love to dance.\"\n\nEmma's severe features relaxed.\n\n\"I haven't danced since Christmas and not often before that. I didn't realize how much I missed it.\" She smiled and said no more." }, { "from": "human", "value": "He held his tongue, surprised by her smile and enjoying the unfamiliar feel of having a partner as skilled as he was." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "They moved together with the utmost grace. Faces passed by in rapid succession. He noted Lily dancing with Charles, more than once her gaze on him and his partner.\n\nTheir set ended." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"You are a very accomplished dancer, Lord Albany. I am more tired than I would have expected.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He led her to one side of the dance floor to a low table with refreshments. \"Perhaps a lemonade will restore you.\"\n\n\"Thank you.\"\n\nTheir drinks in hand, they strolled from the table and along one wall." }, { "from": "human", "value": "A gentleman approached them." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He knew the man as Grace's father, Robert Hastings. Introductions were made. They were soon joined by Lily and Charles.\n\nLily stood next to him. She caught his gaze and jerked her head ever so slightly toward the dance floor." }, { "from": "human", "value": "He finished his drink and placed the empty glass on a small table." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Would you care to join me in a country dance?\"\n\nLily nodded. \"Oh yes, I should love to dance again.\"\n\nOnce they were part of their square, he had little opportunity to speak to his partner. He did manage a few words as they passed." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"What are you up to?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Whatever can you mean?\"\n\nHe chuckled. \"Hoping to play matchmaker, I see.\"\n\n\"You do have a past with my mother-in-law.\" She winked at him." }, { "from": "human", "value": "They danced apart and came back together." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"A past you know nothing about.\"\n\n\"It is obvious she is attracted to you despite every indication that she dislikes you.\"\n\nHe winced. \"Pray, do not spare my feelings.\"\n\nAlthough Lily was a capable dancer, she lacked Emma's natural grace." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Although you could not yet see her pregnancy, he wondered if the condition might affect her dancing." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "When the set was over, he deposited Lily with the still intact group.\n\n\"Excuse me. I see someone I must speak with.\"\n\nHe walked to the other side of the ballroom where his friend Sloane stood conversing with another gentleman. As he approached, the unknown man moved away." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"I didn't expect you here this evening,\" Sloane said by way of greeting." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"It was an opportunity to see Lady Upton.\"\n\n\"You two danced splendidly together. She is an accomplished woman.\"\n\n\"But not a beautiful woman?\"\n\n\"Do not look for slight where none is intended. She is handsome.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"There is something about her…\" He shook his head." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"It stayed with me all these years.\"\n\n\"If you ask her to dance again Lady Cairs will be beside herself with glee. The widow and the fortune-hunter.\"\n\nHe couldn't help but laugh. \"I came to speak to you to prevent myself from doing just that.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"What next?\"" }, { "from": "system", "value": "Next message should be approximately 2 sentences." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Holding Emma in his arms brought all the feelings of that long-ago house party back to him. \"I'm not sure. I do know I'm not getting any younger.\"" } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Today you will be acting as a writing assistant, your partner will send something and you will write the next four sentences." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Emma attended the theater at Covent Garden with her sister." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Traveling around London in the wake of a duchess was a heady task. Amelia appeared never to tire of all the toadying-up.\n\n\"I think I would forget my own name,\" Emma said after the hundredth time someone said, \"Your Grace\" to Amelia.\n\nHer sister laughed behind her fan." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"My husband tells me he does forget his name quite often.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"The duke was feeling ill this evening?\"\n\n\"It is but a touch of rheumatism. He asked me to go along without him. He is not an admirer of the production King John or for that matter, Shakespeare.\"\n\nAmelia's husband was now fifty. The exact age when Emma's husband had died." }, { "from": "human", "value": "She wasn't worried about the duke dying of debauchery." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He wasn't the drinker or womanizer Lord Upton had been.\n\nDuring the intermission, the party in the next box offered to bring them refreshments. Amelia accepted the offer. Emma recognized her sister's favorite part of the theater experience was observing the people around her, especially the goings-on in the pit." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Once the boxes surrounding them were empty, Amelia asked, \"What are your plans, Emma?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"I shall enjoy the delights of London until I accompany my daughter-in-law to Essex.\"\n\n\"You're being deliberately obtuse. You know I'm asking about the future.\"\n\nAmelia had spoken in affectionate tones. Their parents, long dead, had not been the warmest people." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Amelia had been a lovely, sweet sister despite always saying what was on her mind." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "She also hadn't let Emma cast her aside as Emma had done with Louisa.\n\n\"I will reside at the dower house. I'm looking forward to being nearby to watch my first grandchild grow up.\"\n\n\"A new baby…\" Amelia's words sounded wistful. Despite a loving marriage, she and her husband had never had children." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"There is nothing else you wish to do now that your sons are married off?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "She thought a moment. Solitude had been her companion for so long she didn't fear it. To her surprise, her thoughts strayed to Lord Albany before she squashed them.\n\n\"Perhaps I will return to my painting. It has been some years since I completed a project.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"You were quite talented at drawing and painting. I often forget that as you are the most graceful dancer I have ever seen.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"All my small accomplishments were for naught.\"\n\nAmelia knew her sister's marriage had been an unhappy one. Emma had told her sister Lord Upton had been useful to get her with child and for nothing else.\n\n\"You are still young enough to remarry.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"I am almost 50.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Amelia laughed and tapped her playfully on the arm with her fan. \"Nonsense. I am a year older than you. I am not ready for fifty.\"\n\n\"I have my sons and their families. That will be enough excitement in my life.\"\n\nEmma had spent so many years in near seclusion it was hard to imagine any other life." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Her greatest regret was not reconciling with Louisa before the woman's death nearly two years ago." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Louisa had attempted a relationship after Emma married. Emma had rebuffed most of Louisa's attempts, had made excuses why Louisa couldn't visit her in the country. She had been very unhappy in her marriage and in the early years had no desire to be around those who were happy.\n\nWhen Charles was born she had found contentment in being a mother." }, { "from": "human", "value": "A few years later her husband purchased Kilmeade Hall with part of his wife's fortune." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He'd abandoned her there with the children. She'd not minded one little bit.\n\nAmelia interrupted her musings to say, \"I thought perhaps you might receive an offer from Lord Albany.\"\n\n\"Good heavens, whatever made you think such a thing?\"" } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "expand on the story like Angelina Jameson would" }, { "from": "human", "value": "He had nearly convinced himself to protect his heart." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Spending today with Emma had convinced him to take a chance. When he saw the way Lisbeth accepted her, he'd felt a lightness in his heart. The kind, sweet girl he'd known had grown into a kind woman, for all she tried to hide her softer side.\n\nThe rain had returned." }, { "from": "human", "value": "A light mist was visible out of the window of the carriage." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He loved rain. It left the landscape clean and new. He imagined he could smell the rain, a soft musky hint of water and soil.\n\n\"No matter how old you get, John, you're still a romantic.\"\n\nHe was startled to realize he'd said the words aloud." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Hungry, he opened the burlap sack beside him." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "A bottle of ale was accompanied by an apple and a roast beef sandwich wrapped in a cloth. Another folded piece of cloth revealed a few lemon biscuits.\n\nIt had been a good day. It could only be made better if he returned home and Lisbeth was in good spirits, no worse for a visit from strangers." }, { "from": "human", "value": "His mind returned to the pleasant conversation he'd had with Emma in the carriage." }, { "from": "system", "value": "Your next one should be approximately 1 sentence." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Yes, it had been a very good day." } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Mode:\nCo-writing\n\nLength:\n4 sentences\n\nStyle:\nAngelina Jameson" }, { "from": "system", "value": "Produce a starting prompt please." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He was pleasantly surprised how quickly his sister returned to her normal good-natured self. Not only did Lisbeth not like deviations from her schedule, she had grown quite attached to Lady Upton.\n\n\"Why did she leave me?\" Lisbeth asked plaintively as she brushed huge swaths of gray paint across her painting of the tower." }, { "from": "human", "value": "He wouldn't admonish her for ruining her current project." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He'd seen her do much the same several times to other works. She would simply start the project again when she was in a happier frame of mind.\n\n\"I'm sure Lady Upton told you about Lily and the babe.\"\n\n\"She told me about all of her family.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Lisbeth put down her brush on the table beside her." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"She cares about her family like you care about me.\"\n\n\"Yes. I am glad you understand.\"\n\nShe turned to him and smiled. \"Lady Upton can bring the babe here. I haven't held a baby in a very long time.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "He wanted nothing more than to tell his sister such a thing was possible." }, { "from": "system", "value": "Next message should be approximately 2 sentences." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Right now, he must remain calm although he knew Lily might be in distress. If something happened to Lily or the baby… The possibility didn't bear thinking about." } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Provide four sentences as a continuation." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"These guys are good!\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Shawna yelled as the opening act barreled headlong into their fifth song.\n\nWe'd left our seats after the third, working our way through a writhing crowd to the railing that divided the seating area from the mosh pit in front of the stage. Gideon surrounded me, his arms caging me on both sides, his hands gripping the rail. The audience pressed in around us, collectively pushing forward, but I was cushioned from it by his body, just as Shawna was by Arnoldo beside us." }, { "from": "human", "value": "I was sure Gideon could have gotten us way better seats, but I didn't have to tell him that the way Shawna had scored her fan-only tickets and the fact that she'd invited us meant her seats were our only option." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "I loved him for understanding that and for going with the flow.\n\nTurning my head, I looked at him. \"Is this band with Vidal, too?\"\n\n\"No. But I like them.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "I was stoked that he was enjoying the show." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Lifting my arms in the air, I screamed, feeling pumped by the energy of the crowd and the driving beat. I danced within the circle of Gideon's arms, my body drenched in sweat, my blood raging.\n\nWhen the act was done, the stagehands quickly set to work breaking down the equipment and setting up for Six-Ninths. Grateful for the evening, for the joy, for the awesomeness of going wild with the man I loved, I turned and threw my arms around Gideon's neck, mashing my lips to his." }, { "from": "human", "value": "He lifted me and urged my legs around his waist, kissing me violently." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He was hard and pressing against me, luring me to grind into him. Around us people whistled and catcalled things that ranged from \"Get a room\" to \"Fuck her, man!\" but I didn't care and neither did Gideon, who seemed as swept away by the sensual craziness as I was. His hand on my buttocks rocked me into his erection while the other fisted in my hair, holding me where he wanted me as he kissed me as if he couldn't stop, as if he were starving for the taste of me." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Our open mouths slid desperately across each other." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He tongued me deep and fast, fucking my mouth, making love to it. I drank him in, licking and tasting, moaning at his insatiable need. He sucked on my tongue, the circle of his lips sliding along it. It was too much." }, { "from": "human", "value": "I was slick and aching for his cock, nearly frantic with the need to feel him filling me." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"You're going to make me come,\" he growled, before tugging on my bottom lip with his teeth.\n\nI was so into him and the ferocity of his passion for me that I barely registered when Six-Ninths started. It wasn't until the vocals kicked in that I was jolted back to where I was.\n\nI stiffened, my mind clawing its way up through the fog of desire to process what I was hearing." }, { "from": "human", "value": "I knew the song." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "My eyes opened as Gideon pulled back. Over his shoulder I saw handwritten signs held up in the air.\n\nBRETT KLINE IS MINE! And BANG ME, BRETT!" }, { "from": "human", "value": "And my personal favorite, BRETT, I'D HIT IT WITH YOU LIKE THE WRATH OF GOD!! !" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Hell. What were the chances?\n\nAnd Cary had known, of course. He'd known and hadn't warned me. Probably thought it'd be hysterical for me to find out by accident instead." }, { "from": "human", "value": "My legs loosened from around Gideon's hips and he set me down, protecting me from the frenzied fans with the shield of his body." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "I turned to face the stage, feeling a mad fluttering in my belly. Sure enough, it was Brett Kline at the mic, his deep, powerful, sexy-as-hell voice pouring over the thousands who'd come to see him in action. His short hair was spiked and tipped with platinum, his lean body clothed in olive cargo pants and a black tank top. It was impossible to see from where I was, but I knew his eyes were a brilliant emerald green, his face was ruggedly handsome, and his killer smile revealed a dimple that drove women crazy." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Tearing my eyes away from him, I looked at the other band members, recognizing all of them." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "They hadn't been called Six-Ninths back in San Diego, though. They'd been called Captive Soul then, and I wondered what had led to the name change.\n\n\"Good, aren't they?\" Gideon asked with his mouth to my ear so I could hear him. He had one hand on the railing and the other around my waist, keeping me pulled up tight against him as he moved to the music." }, { "from": "human", "value": "The combination of his body and Brett's voice did insane things to my already raging sex drive." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "I closed my eyes, focusing on the man behind me and the unique rush I'd always felt while listening to Brett sing. The music throbbed through my veins, bringing back memories—some good and some bad. I swayed in Gideon's arms, desire pounding through me. I was achingly aware of his hunger." }, { "from": "human", "value": "It poured off him like heat waves, sinking into me, making me crave him until the physical distance between us was painful." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Grabbing the hand he had pressed flat against my stomach, I urged it downward.\n\n\"Eva.\" His voice was harsh with lust. I'd been pushing him all night, from the moment I told him my period was over, to the hand job beneath the restaurant table, to the scorching kiss in the intermission.\n\nHe gripped my bare thigh and squeezed. \"Open.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "I set my left foot on the bottom of the railing." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "My head fell back against his shoulder and a heartbeat later, his hand was under my skirt. His tongue traced the shell of my ear, his breathing hard and fast. I felt him groan as much as heard it when he discovered how wet I was.\n\nOne song blended into another." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Gideon rubbed me through the crotch of my boyshorts, moving in circles, then vertically through my cleft." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "My hips rolled into his touch, my core clenching, my ass grinding into the hard ridge of his erection. I was going to come right there, inches away from dozens of people, because that was what Gideon did to me. That was how insanely he turned me on. Nothing mattered when his hands were on me, his attention completely riveted to me." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"That's it, angel.\" His fingers pushed my underwear aside and two sank into me." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"I'm going to fuck this gorgeous cunt for days.\"\n\nWith bodies pressing in all around us, music pounding over us, and privacy granted only by distraction, Gideon slid his fingers deep into my soaked sex and stayed there. The solid, unmoving penetration drove me wild. I ground my hips into his hand, working toward the orgasm I needed so desperately." }, { "from": "human", "value": "The song ended and the lights went out." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Drenched in darkness, the crowd roared. Anticipation weighted the audience, building until the strum of guitar strings broke the heavy expectation. Shouts rang out, then lighters flickered to life, turning the sea of people into thousands of fireflies.\n\nA spotlight hit the stage, revealing Brett sitting on a bar stool, shirtless and glistening with sweat." }, { "from": "human", "value": "His chest was hard and defined, his abs ridged with muscle." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He lowered the height of the microphone stand and the piercings in his nipples glittered with his movements. The women in the audience screamed, including Shawna, who jumped in place and gave an earsplitting whistle.\n\nI totally got it. Sitting there as he was, with his feet propped on the rungs of the chair and his muscular arms covered in sleeves of black and gray tattoos, Brett looked insanely sexy and extremely fuckable." }, { "from": "human", "value": "For six months nearly four years ago I'd debased myself to get him naked every chance I could, so infatuated with him and desperate to be loved that I took whatever scraps he threw me." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Gideon's fingers began to slide in and out of me. The bass kicked in. Brett began to sing a song I'd never heard before, his voice low and soulful, the words crystal clear. He had the voice of a fallen angel. Mesmerizing. Seductive." }, { "from": "human", "value": "And the face and body to enhance the temptation." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Golden girl, there you are.\n\nI'm singing for the crowd, the music's loud.\n\nI'm living my dream, riding the high,\n\nBut I see you there, sunlight in your hair," }, { "from": "human", "value": "And I'm ready to go, desperate to fly." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Golden girl, there you are.\n\nDancing for the crowd, the music's loud.\n\nI want you so bad. I can't look away." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Later, you'll drop to your knees." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "You'll beg me please.\n\nAnd then you'll go, it's only your body I know.\n\nGolden girl, where'd you go?\n\nYou're not there, with sunlight in your hair." }, { "from": "human", "value": "I could have you in the bar or the back of my car," }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "But never your heart. I'm falling apart.\n\nI'll drop to my knees, I'll beg you. Please.\n\nPlease don't go. There's so much more I want to know.\n\nEva, please. I'm on my knees." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Golden girl, where'd you go?" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "I'm singing for the crowd, the music's loud.\n\nAnd you're not there, with sunlight in your hair.\n\nEva, please. I'm on my knees.\n\nThe spotlight went dark." }, { "from": "human", "value": "A long moment passed as the music faded." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Then the lights came back on and the drums exploded with sound. The flames winked out and the crowd went crazy.\n\nBut I was lost to the roaring in my ears, the tightness in my chest, and a confusion that had me reeling.\n\n\"That song,\" Gideon growled in my ear, his fingers fucking me forcefully, \"makes me think of you.\"" } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Hey can you write like Sylvia Day and use whatever i write as a jumping off point?" }, { "from": "system", "value": "Produce a starting prompt please." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "I stumbled back from the impact, nearly falling. The two men hit the asphalt with a sickening thud. Someone yelled. A woman screamed. I could do nothing." }, { "from": "human", "value": "I stood frozen and silent, emotions twisting through me in a frenzied tangle." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Gideon pinned Brett by the throat and pummeled his ribs with a relentless series of blows. He was like a machine, silent and unstoppable. Brett grunted with each brutal impact and struggled to break free.\n\n\"Cross! Dio mio.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "I wept when Arnoldo appeared." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He leaped forward, reaching for Gideon, only to scramble back as Brett wrenched to the side and the two men rolled.\n\nBrett's bandmates pushed in through the growing crowd around the front of the buses, prepared to brawl . . . until they saw who Brett was fighting with—the man with the money behind their record label.\n\n\"Kline, you fuckhead!\" Darrin, the drummer, gripped his own hair in both fists." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"What the hell are you doing?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Brett broke free, lurched to his feet, and tackled Gideon into the side of a bus. Gideon linked his hands and hammered Brett's back like a club, forcing Brett to lurch away. Pressing the advantage, Gideon lashed out with a roundhouse kick and followed with a lightning-quick jab to the gut. Brett swung, his powerful biceps bunching with his fist, but Gideon ducked fluidly and retaliated with an uppercut that snapped Brett's head back." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Jesus." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Gideon didn't make a sound, not when he struck out and not when Brett landed a direct hit to his jaw. The quiet intensity of his fury was chilling. I could feel the rage pumping off him, saw it in his eyes, but he remained controlled and eerily methodical. He'd disconnected in some way, retreated to a place where he could objectively observe his body doing serious damage to someone else." }, { "from": "human", "value": "I'd caused that. I had turned the warm, wickedly playful man who'd enchanted me all evening into the cold, murderous fighter in front of me." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Miss Tramell.\" Angus grabbed my elbow.\n\nI looked at him desperately. \"You have to stop him.\"\n\n\"Please, return to the limousine.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"What?\" I looked over and saw blood dripping from Brett's nose." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "No one was intervening. \"Are you crazy?\"\n\n\"We need to take Miss Ellison home. She's your guest; you need to see to her.\"\n\nBrett swung and when Gideon feinted to the side, Brett rammed his other fist forward, nailing Gideon in the shoulder and sending him backward a few steps.\n\nI grabbed Angus by the arms." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"What's the matter with you?! Stop them!\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "His pale blue eyes softened. \"He knows when to stop, Eva.\"\n\n\"Are you shitting me?!\"\n\nHe looked over my shoulder." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Mr. Ricci, if you would, please.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The next thing I knew, I was slung over Arnoldo's shoulder and en route to the limo. Lifting my head, I saw the circle of bystanders close in with my absence, blocking my view. I screamed my frustration and pounded at Arnoldo's back, but it didn't faze him. He climbed right into the back of the limo with me, and when Shawna hopped in a moment later, Angus shut the door as if everything was totally fucking normal." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"What the hell are you doing?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "I snapped at Arnoldo, scrambling for the door handle as the limo rolled smoothly into motion. It wouldn't open and no matter what I did, I couldn't get it to unlock. \"He's your friend! You're just going to leave him like that?\"\n\n\"He's your boyfriend.\" The calm neutrality in Arnoldo's voice cut me deep." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"And you are the one who left him like that.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "I slumped back into the seat, my stomach churning and my palms damp. Gideon . . .\n\n\"You're the Eva in the song 'Golden,' aren't you?\" Shawna asked quietly, from her position on the opposite bench seat." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Arnoldo started, obviously surprised by the connection." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"I wonder if Gideon—\" He sighed. \"Of course he knows.\"\n\n\"That was a long time ago!\" I said defensively.\n\n\"Not long enough, apparently,\" he pointed out." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Desperate to get to Gideon, I couldn't sit still." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "My feet tapped, my body battling against restlessness so intense I felt like crawling out of my skin.\n\nI'd hurt the man I loved and through him, another man who'd done nothing more than be himself. And I had no good explanation for it. Looking back, I had no idea what had come over me." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Why hadn't I pulled away sooner?" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Why had I kissed Brett back?\n\nAnd what was Gideon going to do about it?\n\nThe thought that he might break up with me triggered overwhelming panic. I was sick with worry." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Was he hurt? God . ." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": ". the thought of Gideon in pain ate at me like acid. Was he in trouble? He'd assaulted Brett. My palms went damp when I remembered Cary's news that his clusterfuck buddy also wanted to press assault charges." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Gideon's life was spiraling out of control—because of me." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "At some point he was going to realize I wasn't worth the trouble.\n\nI glanced at Shawna. She was looking out the window pensively. I'd blown her awesome night." }, { "from": "human", "value": "And Arnoldo's, too. \"I'm sorry.\" I sighed miserably." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"I screwed up everything.\"\n\nShe looked at me and shrugged, then offered a sympathetic smile that made my throat burn. \"No big. I had a great time. I hope you work things out for the best.\"\n\nThe best thing for me was Gideon." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Had I blown that?" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Had I thrown away the most important thing in my life over some weird, inexplicable head trip?\n\nI still felt Brett's mouth on mine. I scrubbed at my lips, wishing I could erase the last half hour of my life as easily.\n\nMy anxiety made it feel like it took an eternity to drive Shawna home." }, { "from": "human", "value": "I got out and gave her a hug on the sidewalk in front of her apartment building." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"I'm sorry,\" I said again, for both earlier and then, because I was dying to get to Gideon—wherever he was—and I was afraid my impatience showed. I wasn't sure I'd ever forgive Angus or Arnoldo for taking me away when and how they did.\n\nArnoldo hugged Shawna and told her that she and Doug had a standing reservation for Tableau One anytime. I softened a little toward him." }, { "from": "human", "value": "He'd taken good care of her all night." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "We climbed back into the limo and set off for the restaurant. I curled into a darkened corner of the seat and cried silently, unable to contain the flood of despair overwhelming me. When we arrived at the restaurant, I used my tank top to dry my face. Arnoldo stopped me from getting out." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Be gentle with him,\" he scolded, staring hard at my face." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"I have never seen him the way he is with you. I can't say you are worthy of him, but you can make him happy. I saw that myself. Do it or walk. Don't fuck with his head.\"\n\nI couldn't speak past the lump in my throat, so I nodded, hoping he could see in my eyes how much Gideon meant to me. Everything.\n\nArnoldo disappeared into the restaurant. Before Angus shut the door, I slid forward on the seat." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Where is he? I need to see him. Please.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"He called.\" Angus's face was kind, which made me start crying again. \"I'm taking you to him now.\"\n\n\"Is he okay?\"\n\n\"I don't know.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "I pushed back into the seat, feeling physically ill." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "I barely paid attention to where we were headed, my only thought being that I needed to explain. I needed to tell Gideon that I loved him, that I'd never leave him if he'd still have me, that he was the only man I wanted, the only man who set my blood on fire.\n\nEventually, the car slowed and I looked out, realizing we'd returned to the amphitheater. As I peered out the window, searching for him, the door behind me opened, startling me, and I shifted around to see Gideon duck inside and settle on the opposite bench from me." }, { "from": "human", "value": "I lurched toward him. \"Gideon—\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Don't.\" His voice whipped with anger, sending me recoiling and falling on my rear. The limo set into motion, jostling me.\n\nCrying, I watched him pour a glass of amber liquor at the bar and toss it back. I waited on the floorboards, my stomach churning with fear and grief." }, { "from": "human", "value": "He refilled his glass before shutting the bar and dropping back in his seat." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "I wanted to ask him if Brett was okay or badly hurt. I wanted to ask how Gideon was, if he was injured or fine. But I couldn't. I didn't know if he would take the questions the wrong way and assume my concern for Brett meant more than it did.\n\nHis face was impassive, his eyes hard as sapphires." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"What is he to you?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "I swiped at the tears streaming down my face. \"A mistake.\"\n\n\"Then? Or now?\"\n\n\"Both.\"\n\nHis lip curled in a sneer." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"You always kiss your mistakes like that?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "My chest heaved as I tried to stem the need to sob. I shook my head violently.\n\n\"You want him?\" he asked tightly, before taking another drink.\n\n\"No,\" I whispered. \"I only want you. I love you, Gideon. So much it hurts.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "His eyes closed and his head fell back." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "I took the opportunity to crawl closer, needing to bridge the physical distance between us, at least.\n\n\"Did you come for me when I had my fingers inside you, Eva? Or because of his goddamn song?\"\n\nOh my God . . . How he could doubt—?" }, { "from": "human", "value": "I made him doubt." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "I did that. \"You. You're the only one who can get to me like that. Make me forget where I am. Make it so I don't care who's around or what's happening as long as you're touching me.\"\n\n\"Isn't that what happened when he kissed you?\" Gideon's eyes opened and focused on me. \"He's had his dick in you. He's fucked you . . . blown his load inside you.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "I cringed away from the horrible bitterness in his tone, the vicious nastiness." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "I knew just how he felt. How badly the mental images could sting and claw until you felt like you were going mad. In my mind, he and Corinne had fucked dozens of times while I watched in sick, jealous fury.\n\nHe straightened suddenly, leaning forward to rub his thumb roughly across my lips." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"He's had your mouth.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "I grabbed his glass and drank what was left in it, hating the harsh taste and searing burn. I swallowed by force of will alone. My stomach roiled, protesting. The heat of the alcohol spread outward from my gut." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Gideon sagged back into the seat, his arm thrown across his face." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "I knew he was still seeing me kissing Brett. Knew it was eating a hole in his mind.\n\nDropping the glass on the floor, I surged between his legs and fumbled with his button fly.\n\nHe caught my fingers in an iron grip but kept his eyes covered with his forearm." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"What the fuck are you doing?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Come in my mouth,\" I begged. \"Wash it away.\"\n\nThere was a long pause. He sat there, utterly still except for the heavy lift and fall of his chest.\n\n\"Please, Gideon.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "With muttered curse, he released me, his hand falling limply to his side. \"Do it.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "I rushed to get to him, my pulse pounding at the thought that he might change his mind and deny me . . . that he might decide he was done with me. The only help he gave me was a momentary lift of his hips, so I could yank his jeans and boxer briefs out of the way.\n\nThen his big, beautiful cock was in my hands." }, { "from": "human", "value": "My mouth. I moaned at the taste of him, at the warmth and satiny softness of his skin, at the smell of him." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "I nuzzled my cheek against his groin and balls, wanting his scent all over me, marking me as his. My tongue followed the thick veins coursing the length of him, licking him up and down.\n\nI heard his teeth grind when I sucked him with long drawing pulls, moans of apology and bliss vibrating in my throat. It broke my heart that he was so silent, my vocal lover who always talked dirty to me." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Always told me what he wanted and needed . . ." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "how good he felt when I made love to him. He was holding himself back, denying me the satisfaction of knowing I pleased him.\n\nPumping the thick root with my fist, I milked him, sucking on the plush crown, luring his pre-cum to the tip where I could lick it up with rapid flutters of my tongue. His thighs bunched, his breath came in fierce pants." }, { "from": "human", "value": "I felt him coil tight and I went wild, double-fisting him, my mouth working so hard that my jaw ached." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "His spine straightened, his head lifting from the seat only to slam backward as the first thick spurt exploded in my mouth.\n\nI whimpered, his flavor igniting my senses, making me crave more. I swallowed convulsively, my hands pulling and rubbing on his throbbing penis to lure more of his rich, creamy semen onto my tongue. His body quaked as he came for long minutes, filling my mouth until he spilled out of the sides of my lips." }, { "from": "human", "value": "He made no sound, as unnaturally silent as he'd been during the fight." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "I would've sucked him off for hours. I wanted to, but he put both hands on my shoulders and urged me away. I looked up into his heartrendingly gorgeous face, saw his eyes glittering in the semidarkness. He touched my lips with his thumb, smearing his semen over and around the swollen curves." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Slide your tight cunt around me,\" he ordered hoarsely." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"I've got more to give you.\"\n\nShaky and frightened by his harsh remoteness, I wriggled out of my boy shorts.\n\n\"Take it all off. Everything except the boots.\"\n\nI did as he said, my body quickening at his command." }, { "from": "human", "value": "I'd do anything he wanted." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "I would prove to him that I was his and only his. I would atone however he needed me to so he'd know I loved him. I unzipped my skirt and pushed it off, then whipped my tank top over my head and threw it on the opposite bench. My bra followed.\n\nWhen I straddled him, Gideon caught my hips and looked up at me. \"Are you wet?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Yes.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"It turns you on to suck my cock.\"\n\nMy nipples hardened further. The blunt, crude way he talked about sex turned me on, too. \"Always.\"\n\n\"Why did you kiss him?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "The abrupt change in topic knocked me askew." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "My lower lip trembled. \"I don't know.\"\n\nHe released me, reaching up and over his shoulders with both hands to grip the sides of the headrest. His biceps bulged with the pose. I was aroused by the sight, as I was by everything about him." }, { "from": "human", "value": "I wanted to see his bare chest glistening with sweat, his abs tightening and flexing as he pumped his cock into me." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "I licked my lips, tasting him. \"Take your shirt off.\"\n\nHis gaze narrowed. \"This isn't for you.\"\n\nI stilled, my heart racing in my chest." }, { "from": "human", "value": "He was using sex against me." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "In the limo where we'd first made love, in the same position I'd first taken him . . . \"You're punishing me.\"\n\n\"You've earned it.\"\n\nIt didn't matter that he was right." }, { "from": "human", "value": "If I'd earned it, so had he." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "I gripped the top of the seat back for balance and wrapped the fingers of my other hand around his cock. He was still hard, still throbbing. A muscle in his neck twitched as I stroked him in my fist, priming him. I placed the wide crest between the lips of my cleft, rubbing him back and forth, coating him with the slickness of my desire." }, { "from": "human", "value": "My gaze never left his." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "I watched him as I teased us both, looking for any sign of the passionate lover I adored. He wasn't there. A furious stranger glared back at me, daring me, taunting me with his detachment.\n\nI let the first thick inch push inside me, spreading me open. Then I slammed my hips down, crying out as he pierced me deep and stretched me almost unbearably." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Jesus. Fuck,\" he bit out, shuddering. \"Goddamn it.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "His uncontrolled outburst spurred me. Digging my knees into the seat, I set my hands on either side of his and lifted, pulling off him, my trembling sex clinging tightly. I pushed back down, the glide easier now that he was wet from me. When my buttocks hit his thighs I found his muscles hard as stone, his body giving away the lie—he wasn't indifferent." }, { "from": "human", "value": "I lifted again, slowly, making us both feel every nuance of the delicious friction." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "When I pushed back down, I tried to be as stoic as he was, but the sensation of fullness, the heated connection, was too exquisite to contain. I moaned, and he shifted restlessly, his hips moving in a delicious little circle before he could stop himself.\n\n\"You feel so good,\" I whispered, stroking his raging cock with my eager, aching sex. Sliding up and down." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"You're all I need, Gideon. All I want. You were made for me.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"You forgot that,\" he bit out, his knuckles white from his grip on the seat back.\n\nI wondered if he was just holding on or physically restraining himself from reaching for me. \"Never. I could never forget. You're a part of me.\"\n\n\"Tell me why you kissed him.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"I don't know.\" I rested my damp forehead against his, feeling the tears burning behind my eyes." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"God, Gideon. I swear I don't know.\"\n\n\"Then shut up and make me come.\"\n\nIf he'd slapped my face, it couldn't have shocked me more. I straightened and leaned away from him. \"Fuck you.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Now you're getting the idea.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Hot tears slid down my face. \"Don't treat me like a whore.\"\n\n\"Eva.\" His voice was low and raspy, filled with warning, but his eyes were dark and desolate. Filled with pain that matched my own." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"You want to stop, you know what to say.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Crossfire. With one word I could unmistakably, irrefutably put an end to this agony. But I couldn't use it now. Just the fact that he brought up my safe word told me he was testing me. Pushing me. He had an agenda, and if I gave up now, I'd never know what it was." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Reaching behind me, I set my hands on his knees." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "I arched my back and dragged my soaked sex along the rigid length of his cock, then slammed back down. I adjusted the angle, lifted and fell again, gasping at the feel of him. Mad as hell or not, my body worshipped his. Loved the feel of him, the sense of rightness that was there despite the anger and hurt." }, { "from": "human", "value": "His breath was powering out of his lungs with every plunge of my hips." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "His body was hot, so hot, radiating heat like a blast furnace. I pumped my hips. Up. Down. Taking the pleasure he refused to give me. My thighs, buttocks, stomach, and core tightened with every lift, fisting him from root to tip." }, { "from": "human", "value": "They relaxed when I dropped, letting him sink deep." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "I fucked him with everything I had, pounding myself onto his cock. His breath hissed out between his clenched teeth. Then he was coming hard, jetting inside me so fiercely I felt each scorching burst of semen like a separate thrust. I cried out, loving the feel of it, chasing an orgasm that would shatter me." }, { "from": "human", "value": "I was wound so tightly, my body desperate for release after pleasing him twice." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "But he moved, grabbing me by the waist and restraining my movements, holding himself deep as he pumped me full. I choked off a scream when I realized he was deliberately preventing me from coming.\n\n\"Tell me why, Eva,\" he growled. \"Why?\"\n\n\"I don't know!\" I yelled, trying to grind my hips onto him, pounding his shoulders with my fists when his grip tightened." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Holding me pinned to his pelvis and filled with his cock, Gideon pushed to his feet and everything shifted." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He pulled out of me, flipped me to face away from him, then bent me over the edge of the seat with my knees on the floorboard. With one hand at the small of my back, holding me down, he cupped my sex and rubbed, massaging his semen into my cleft. He spread it around, coating me with it. My hips circled, seeking that perfect bit of pressure to get me off . . ." }, { "from": "human", "value": "He kept it from me. Deliberately." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The pounding in my clit and the needy clenching of my empty core was driving me mad, my body hungry for release. He pushed two fingers into me and my nails dug into the black leather seat. He finger-fucked me leisurely, sliding lazily in and out, keeping me on the edge.\n\n\"Gideon,\" I sobbed, the sensitive tissues inside me rippling greedily around him." }, { "from": "human", "value": "I was coated in sweat, barely able to breathe." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "I began to pray for the car to stop, for us to reach our destination, holding my breath in desperate anticipation of escape. But the limo never pulled over. It kept driving and driving, and I was restrained so completely that I couldn't rise up enough to see where we were.\n\nHe folded over my back, his cock lying within the seam of my ass." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Tell me why, Eva,\" he crooned in my ear." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"You knew I'd be coming after you . . . that I'd find you . . .\"\n\nMy eyes squeezed shut, my hands clenching into fists. \"I. Don't. Know. Damn you! I don't fucking know!\"\n\nHis fingers pulled free and then his cock was pushing into me." }, { "from": "human", "value": "My sex spasmed around the delicious hardness, sucking him deeper." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "I heard his breath catch on a muffled groan, and then he was taking me.\n\nI cried with the pleasure of it, my entire body shivering with delight as he fucked me thoroughly, the wide head of his gorgeous penis rubbing and tugging at tender, hyperstimulated nerves. The pressure built and built, brewing like a storm . . .\n\n\"Yes,\" I gasped, stretched tight with anticipation." }, { "from": "human", "value": "He pulled out at the first grasp of my sex and left me hanging on the precipice again." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "I screamed with frustration, fighting to get up and away from the lover who'd become the source of unbearable torment.\n\nHe whispered in my ear like the devil himself. \"Tell me why, Eva. Are you thinking of him now? Are you wishing it were his cock inside you? Wishing it were his cock fucking your perfect little cunt?\"\n\nI screamed again. \"I hate you! You're a sadistic, selfish son of a—\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "He was in me again, filling me, stroking rhythmically into my quivering core." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Unable to stand it a minute longer, I struggled to reach my clit with my fingers, knowing a single stroke would have me coming violently.\n\n\"No.\" Gideon caught my wrists and held my hands down on the seat, his thighs between my own, keeping my legs spread wide so he could sink deep. Over and over. The tempo of his thrusts unfaltering and relentless.\n\nI was thrashing, screaming, losing my mind." }, { "from": "human", "value": "He could make me come with just his cock, giving me an intense vaginal orgasm just from riding me at the right angle, rubbing his thick crest over and over whatever spot I needed him to, a random place inside me he knew instinctively every time he had me." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"I hate you,\" I sobbed, tears of frustration wetting my face and the seat beneath my cheek.\n\nBending over me, he gasped in my ear, \"Tell me why, Eva.\"\n\nFury boiled up inside me and spewed out. \"Because you deserved it! Because you should know what it feels like! How bad it hurts, you self-centered asshole!\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "He stilled. I felt his breath heave out of him." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "My blood was roaring in my ears, so loudly that at first I thought I was deliriously imagining his voice softening with tenderness.\n\n\"Angel.\" His lips brushed over my shoulder blade, his hands releasing my wrists to slide beneath me and cup my full, heavy breasts. \"My stubborn, beautiful angel. Finally, we get to the truth.\"\n\nGideon lifted me up, straightening me." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Exhausted, my head lolled against his shoulder, my tears dripping onto my chest." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "I had nothing left to fight with, barely able to whimper when he rolled an aching nipple between his fingertips and reached between my splayed legs. His hips began to lunge, his cock pumping upward into me as he pinched the lips of my sex around my throbbing clit and rubbed.\n\nI came with a hoarse cry of his name, my entire body convulsing in fierce tremors as the relief exploded through me. The orgasm lasted forever and Gideon was tireless, extending my pleasure with the perfect thrusts I'd been so frantic for earlier." }, { "from": "human", "value": "When I finally collapsed in his arms, panting and soaked with sweat, he lifted me carefully off him and placed me lengthwise on the bench seat." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Shattered, I covered my face with my hands, incapable of stopping him when he pushed my thighs apart and put his mouth on me. I was soaked with his semen and he didn't care, tonguing and suckling my clit until I came again. And again.\n\nMy back arched with each orgasm, my breath soughing from my lungs. I lost track of how many times I climaxed after they began rolling into each other, cresting and waning like the tide." }, { "from": "human", "value": "I tried to curl away from him, but he just straightened and yanked his shirt off, climbing over me with one knee on the seat and the other leg extended to the floor." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He placed his hands on the window above my head, putting his body on display as he'd refused to do before.\n\nI shoved at him. \"No more! I can't take any more.\"\n\n\"I know.\" His abs tightened as he slid into me, his eyes on my face as he pushed carefully through swollen tissues." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"I just want to be inside you.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "My neck arched as he slid deeper, a low sound escaping me because it felt sooo good. As worn out and overstimulated as I was, I still craved to possess him and to be possessed by him. I knew I always would.\n\nBending his head, he pressed his lips to my forehead." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"You're all I want, Eva. There's no one else. There will never be anyone else.\"" }, { "from": "system", "value": "Next message should be approximately 2 sentences." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Gideon.\" He understood, as I hadn't, that the night had fallen apart because of my jealousy and the deep-seated need I had to make him feel it for himself.\n\nHe kissed me softly, reverently, erasing every memory of anyone else's lips on mine." } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Write 4 sentences sentences in the style of Sylvia Day spawning from what the user wrote." }, { "from": "system", "value": "Produce a starting prompt please." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "I had to get up before dawn Tuesday morning. I left a note for Cary where he'd see it as soon as he woke up, then headed out to grab a cab back to our place. I showered, dressed, made coffee, and tried to talk myself out of feeling like something was off. I was stressed and suffering from lack of sleep, which always led to tiny bouts of depression." }, { "from": "human", "value": "I told myself that it had nothing to do with Gideon, but the knot in my stomach said differently." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Looking at the clock, I saw it was a little after eight. I'd have to leave soon, because Gideon hadn't called or texted to say that he'd be giving me a ride. It had been almost twenty-four hours since I'd last seen him or even really talked to him. The call I'd made to him at nine the night before had been less than brief." }, { "from": "human", "value": "He'd been in the middle of something and barely said hello and good-bye." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "I knew he had a lot of work to do. I knew I shouldn't resent him for having to pay for the time away with extra hours of work getting caught up. He'd done a lot to help me deal with Cary's situation, more than anyone could've expected. It was up to me to deal with how I was feeling about it." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Finishing my coffee, I rinsed out my mug, then grabbed my purse and bag on the way out." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "My tree-lined street was quiet, but the rest of New York was wide awake, its ceaseless energy thrumming with a tangible force. Women in chic office wear and men in suits tried to hail taxis that streaked by, before settling for packed buses or the subway instead. Flower stands exploded with brilliant color, the sight of them always capable of cheering me up in the morning, as did the sight and smell of the neighborhood bakery, which was doing a brisk business at that hour.\n\nI was a little ways down Broadway before my phone rang." }, { "from": "human", "value": "The little thrill that shot through me at the sight of Gideon's name quickened my steps. \"Hey, stranger.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Where the hell are you?\" he snapped.\n\nA frisson of unease dampened my excitement. \"I'm on my way to work.\"\n\n\"Why?\" He spoke to someone offline, then, \"Are you in a cab?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"I'm walking. Jeez. Did you wake up on the wrong side of the bed or what?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"You should have waited to be picked up.\"\n\n\"I didn't hear from you, and I didn't want to be late after missing work yesterday.\"\n\n\"You could've called me instead of just taking off.\" His voice was low and angry." }, { "from": "human", "value": "I became angry, too." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"The last time I called, you were too busy to give me more than a minute of your time.\"\n\n\"I've got things to take care of, Eva. Give me a break.\"\n\n\"Sure thing. How about now?\" I hung up and dropped my phone back into my bag." }, { "from": "human", "value": "It began ringing again immediately and I ignored it, my blood simmering." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "When the Bentley pulled up beside me a few minutes later, I kept walking. It followed, the front passenger window sliding down.\n\nAngus leaned over. \"Miss Tramell, please.\"\n\nI paused, looking at him. \"Are you alone?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Yes.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "With a sigh, I got in the car. My phone was still ringing nonstop, so I reached in and shut the ringer off. One block later, I heard Gideon's voice coming through the car's speakers.\n\n\"Do you have her?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Yes, sir,\" Angus replied." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The line cut out.\n\n\"What the hell crawled up his ass and died?\" I asked, looking at Angus in the rearview mirror.\n\n\"He's got a lot on his mind.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Whatever it was, it sure wasn't me." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "I couldn't believe what a jerk he was being. He'd been curt on the phone the night before, too, but not rude.\n\nWithin a few minutes after I arrived at work, Mark came up to my cubicle. \"I'm sorry to hear about your roommate,\" he said, setting a fresh cup of coffee on my desk." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Is he going to be all right?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Eventually. Cary's tough; he'll pull through.\" I dropped my stuff in the bottom drawer of my desk and picked up the steaming mug with gratitude. \"Thank you. And thanks for yesterday, too.\"\n\nHis dark eyes were warm with concern." } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Continue with the same vibes as Sylvia Day" }, { "from": "system", "value": "Produce a starting prompt please." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "I checked on Cary the minute I got home. His bed had been moved aside and propped vertically against the wall to make room for a hospital bed that he could adjust at will. He was asleep when I came in, his nurse sitting in a new recliner and reading an e-book. It was the same nurse I'd seen the first night in the hospital, the pretty and exotic-looking one who had trouble taking her eyes off Gideon." }, { "from": "human", "value": "I wondered when he'd spoken to her—if he'd done it himself or sent someone else to do it—and whether she'd agreed for the money or for Gideon or both." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The fact that I was too tired to care one way or another said a lot about my own disconnection. Maybe there were people out there whose love could survive anything, but mine was fragile. It needed to be nurtured in order to thrive and grow.\n\nI took a long, hot shower, then crawled into bed." }, { "from": "human", "value": "I pulled my tablet onto my lap and tried to continue my letter to Gideon." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "I wanted to express my thoughts and reservations in a mature and cogent way. I wanted to make it easy for him to understand my reactions to some of the things he did and said, so he could see things from my point of view.\n\nIn the end, I didn't have the energy.\n\nI'm not elaborating any more, I wrote instead, because if I keep going, I'll beg." }, { "from": "human", "value": "And if you don't know me well enough to know that you're hurting me, a letter isn't going to fix our problems." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "I'm desperate for you. I'm miserable without you. I think about the weekend, and the hours we spent together, and I can't think of anything I wouldn't do to have you like that again. Instead, you're spending time with HER, while I'm alone on my fourth night without you." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Even knowing you've been with her, I want to crawl on my knees for you and beg for scraps." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "A touch. A kiss. One tender word. You've made me that weak.\n\nI hate myself like this. I hate that I need you this much." } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Provide 4 sentences as a continuation." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Don't be afraid.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "I woke to those three words and utter darkness. The mattress dipped as Gideon sat beside me, leaning over me with his arms bracketing my body and the blankets between us, a cocoon and barrier that allowed my mind to wake without fear. The delicious and unmistakable fragrance of his soap and shampoo mixed with the scent of his skin, soothing me along with his voice.\n\n\"Angel.\" He took my mouth, his lips slanting over mine." }, { "from": "human", "value": "I touched his chest with my fingers, feeling bare skin." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He groaned and stood, bending over me so his mouth stayed connected to mine while he yanked the blankets off and away.\n\nThen he was settling over me, his body nude and hot to the touch. His ardent mouth moved down my throat, his hands pushing up my camisole so he could get to my breasts. His lips surrounded my nipple and he suckled, his weight supported by one forearm on the mattress, his other hand pushing between my legs." }, { "from": "human", "value": "He cupped my sex, his fingertip gliding over the satin along the seam of my cleft." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "His tongue flickered over my nipple, making it hard and tight, his teeth sinking lightly into the taut flesh.\n\n\"Gideon!\" Tears slid in rivulets down my temples, the protective numbness I'd felt earlier falling away, leaving me exposed. I'd been withering without him, the world around me losing its vibrancy, my body hurting from its separation from his. Having him with me . ." }, { "from": "human", "value": "." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "touching me . . . was like rain in a drought." }, { "from": "human", "value": "My soul unfurled for him, opening wide to soak him in." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "I loved him so much.\n\nHis hair tickled my skin as his open mouth slid over my cleavage, his chest expanding as he breathed me in, nuzzling and wallowing in my scent. He captured the tip of my other breast with hard, deep suction. The pleasure shot through me, echoing in the clenching of my sex against his teasing fingertip." }, { "from": "human", "value": "He moved down my torso, licking and nibbling a path across my stomach, the breadth of his shoulders forcing my legs wider until his hot breath gusted over my slick cleft." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "His nose pressed against the wet satin, stroking me. He inhaled with a groan.\n\n\"Eva. I've been starved for you.\"\n\nWith impatient fingers, Gideon shoved the crotch of my panties aside and his mouth was on me." }, { "from": "human", "value": "He held me open with his thumbs, his tongue lashing over my throbbing clit." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "My back arched with a cry, all my senses painfully acute without the benefit of sight. Tilting his head, he thrust into the quivering opening of my sex, fucking rhythmically, teasing me with shallow plunges.\n\n\"Oh God!\" I writhed with the pleasure, my core clenching and releasing with the first tingles of orgasm.\n\nI came in a violent rush, sweat misting my skin, my lungs burning as I fought for breath." }, { "from": "human", "value": "His lips were around my trembling opening, sucking, his tongue delving." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He was eating me with an intensity I was helpless against. The flesh between my legs was so swollen and sensitive, so vulnerable to his ravenous hunger. I was climaxing again within moments, my nails scouring the sheets.\n\nMy eyes were opened and blinded by darkness when he ripped my underwear off me and crawled over me." }, { "from": "human", "value": "I felt the wide crest of his cock notch into my cleft, and then he lunged, driving deep into me with an animalistic growl." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "I cried out, shocked by his aggression, turned on by it.\n\nGideon reared up, resting back on his heels, my thighs splayed over his. He gripped my hips, elevating them, tilting me to the angle he wanted. He rolled his hips, stirring his cock inside me, pulling me onto him until I gasped in pain at how deep he was." }, { "from": "human", "value": "The lips of my sex clung to the very base of his penis, spread wide to encompass the thick root." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "I had all of him, every inch, crammed too full and loving it. I'd been empty for days, so lonely I ached.\n\nHe groaned my name and came, spurting hot and thick, the creamy heat spreading upward along his length because there was no room inside me. He shuddered violently, dripping sweat onto my skin, flooding me." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"For you, Eva,\" he gasped. \"Every drop.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Pulling out abruptly, he flipped me over onto my belly and yanked my hips up. I gripped my headboard, my damp face pressed into my pillow. I waited for him to push into me and shivered when I felt his breath against my buttocks. Then I jerked violently at the feel of him licking along the seam." }, { "from": "human", "value": "He rimmed me with the tip of his tongue, stimulating the puckered opening to my rear." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "A broken sound escaped me. I don't do anal play, Eva.\n\nThe tight ring of muscle flexed as I remembered his words, helplessly responding to the delicate flutters. There was nothing in our bed but us." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Nothing could touch us when we were touching each other." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Gideon squeezed both of my cheeks in his hands, grounding me in the moment. I was open and parted for him in every way, completely exposed to his lush dark kiss.\n\n\"Oh!\" I tensed all over. His tongue was inside me, thrusting." }, { "from": "human", "value": "My entire body began to quake from the feeling, my toes curling, my lungs heaving as he possessed me without shame or reservation." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Ah . . . God.\"\n\nI lifted into his mouth, giving myself to him. The affinity between us was brutal and raw, nearly unbearable. I felt seared by his desire, my skin feverish, my chest shaking with sobs I couldn't hold back." }, { "from": "human", "value": "He reached beneath me, pressed the flat of his fingers against my aching clit and rubbing, massaging." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "His tongue was driving me insane. The orgasm brewing inside me was spurred by the knowledge that there were no longer any boundaries for him with my body. He would do anything he desired—possess it, use it, pleasure it. Burying my face in my pillow, I screamed as I came, the ecstasy so vicious my legs gave out and I melted into the mattress." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Gideon slid over my back, his knee pushing my legs wide, his perspiration-slick body blanketing mine." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He mounted me, pushing his cock inside me, his fingers linking with mine and pinning my hands to the bed. I was soaked with him and he rocked against me, sliding in and out.\n\n\"I'm desperate for you,\" he said hoarsely. \"I'm miserable without you.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "I tensed. \"Don't mock me.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"I need you as much.\" He nuzzled into my hair, fucking me slow and easy. \"I'm just as obsessed. Why can't you trust me?\"\n\nI squeezed my eyes shut, hot tears leaking out." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"I don't understand you. You're tearing me apart.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He turned his head and his teeth sank into the top of my shoulder. A pained growl rumbled through his chest and I felt him coming, his cock jerking as it pumped me full of scorching semen.\n\nHis jaw relaxed, releasing me. He panted, his hips still churning." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Your letter gutted me.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"You won't talk to me . . . you won't listen . . .\"\n\n\"I can't.\" He groaned, his arms tightening around mine so that I was completely at his mercy. \"I just . . . It has to be this way.\"\n\n\"I can't live like this, Gideon.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"I'm hurting, too, Eva. It's killing me, too. Can't you see that?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"No.\" I cried, my pillow growing wet beneath my cheek.\n\n\"Then stop overthinking and feel it! Feel me.\"\n\nThe night passed in a blur. I punished him with greedy hands and teeth, my nails raking over sweat-slick skin and muscle until he hissed in pleasured pain." }, { "from": "human", "value": "His lust was frantic and insatiable, his need tinged with a desperation that frightened me because it felt hopeless." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "It felt like good-bye.\n\n\"Need your love,\" he whispered against my skin. \"Need you.\"\n\nHe touched me everywhere. He was constantly inside me, with his cock or his fingers or his tongue." }, { "from": "human", "value": "My nipples burned, made raw by his sucking." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "My sex throbbed and felt bruised from his wild, hard drives. My skin was chafed from the stubble that prickled over his jaw. My jaw ached from sucking his thick cock. My last memory was of him spooned behind me, his arm banded around my waist as he filled me from behind, both of us sore and exhausted and unable to stop." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Don't let go,\" I begged, after I'd sworn I wouldn't." }, { "from": "system", "value": "Your next one should be approximately 1 sentence." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "When I woke to my alarm, he was gone." } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Provide 4 sentences as a continuation." }, { "from": "system", "value": "Produce a starting prompt please." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "As soon as Detective Michna finished his sentence, my dad cut the questioning off. \"We're done here,\" he said grimly. \"If you have any further questions, you can make an appointment for my daughter to come in with counsel.\"\n\n\"How about you, Mr. Cross?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Michna's gaze moved to Gideon." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Would you mind telling us where you were yesterday?\"\n\nGideon moved from his position behind the couch. \"Why don't we talk while I show you out?\"\n\nI stared at him, but he still wouldn't look at me." }, { "from": "human", "value": "What else didn't he want me to know?" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "How much was he hiding from me?\n\nIreland's fingers threaded with mine. Cary sat on one side of me and Ireland on the other, while the man I loved stood several feet away and hadn't glanced at me in almost half an hour. I felt like a cold rock had settled in my gut." }, { "from": "human", "value": "The detectives took down my phone numbers, then left with Gideon." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "I watched the three of them walk out, saw my dad eyeing Gideon with a hard speculative look.\n\n\"Maybe he was buying you an engagement ring,\" Ireland whispered. \"And he doesn't want to blow the surprise.\"\n\nI squeezed her hand for being sweet and thinking so highly of her brother." }, { "from": "human", "value": "I hoped he never let her down or disillusioned her." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The way I was now disillusioned. Gideon and I were nothing—we had nothing together—if he couldn't be honest with me.\n\nWhy hadn't he told me about Nathan?\n\nReleasing Cary and Ireland, I stood and went into the kitchen." }, { "from": "human", "value": "My dad followed me." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Want to fill me in with what's going on?\" he asked.\n\n\"I have no idea. This is all news to me.\"\n\nHe leaned his hip into the counter and studied me. \"What's the history with you and Nathan Barker? You heard his name and looked like you were going to pass out.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "I started rinsing off the dishes and loading the dishwasher." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"He was a bully, Dad. That's all. He didn't like that his dad remarried, and he especially didn't like that his new stepmom already had a kid.\"\n\n\"Why would Gideon have anything to do with him?\"\n\n\"That's a really good question.\" As I gripped the edge of the sink, I bowed my head and closed my eyes." }, { "from": "human", "value": "That was what had driven the wedge between me and Gideon—Nathan. I knew it." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Eva?\" My dad's hands settled on my shoulders and kneaded into the hard, aching muscles. \"Are you okay?\"\n\n\"I-I'm tired. I haven't been sleeping well.\" I shut off the water and left the rest of the dishes where they were. I went to the cupboard where we kept our vitamins and over-the-counter medicines and took out two nighttime painkillers." }, { "from": "human", "value": "I wanted a deep, dreamless sleep." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "I needed it, so I could wake up in a condition to figure out what I needed to do.\n\nI looked at my dad. \"Can you take care of Ireland until Gideon gets back?\"\n\n\"Of course.\" He kissed my forehead." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"We'll talk in the morning.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Ireland found me before I could find her. \"Are you okay?\" she asked, stepping into the kitchen.\n\n\"I'm going to lie down, if you don't mind. I know that's rude.\"\n\n\"No, it's okay.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Really, I'm sorry.\" I pulled her close for a hug." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"We'll do this again. Maybe a girls' day? Hit the spa or go shopping?\"\n\n\"Sure. Call me?\"\n\n\"I will.\" I let her go and passed through the living room to get to the hallway.\n\nThe front door opened and Gideon walked in." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Our gazes met and held." }, { "from": "system", "value": "Next message should be approximately 2 sentences." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "I could read nothing in his. I looked away, went to my room, and locked the door." } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Task: Cooperative storytelling\nMy role: Provide a brief opening\nYour role: Expand upon my opening with 4 sentences, emulating the writing style of K.J. Charles." }, { "from": "system", "value": "Produce a starting prompt please." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "They walked together out of the house into the baking sunshine as the clocks struck noon.\n\n\"Hammersmith, then?\" Stephen said.\n\n\"Let's drop in at the Traders first. It's on the way, and we can get his direction without having to guess the house number. Well. Peyton. The little shit.\"\n\n\"It sounds like he has reason. Mr. Cryer clearly liked Miss Peyton very much. Did you know her?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"I didn't mix with the mission people. For obvious reasons. Can you do the silent thing as we walk? So we can talk?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Stephen hesitated, then gave a twitch of his fingers and the noise of the road dropped away sharply. He was still wearing the Magpie Lord's ring, Crane noted, and felt a pulse of hope.\n\nHe took a deep breath. \"Listen. I feel—it's a day for painful truths—I need to say something.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"What?\" Stephen's voice was wary." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Crane's throat felt uncomfortably dry, and for once, the words didn't come. He had no idea, now, precisely what to say or how, no rehearsed phrases; he simply knew what had to be said.\n\nThe hell with it, Vaudrey. Talk.\n\n\"Look. I am quite sure I've told you how remarkable you are. I know I have. Magical, and infinitely fuckable, and extraordinarily brave. I'm also well aware that you're a better man than I will ever be. I'm fairly sure you have no idea just how glorious you are, which is fortunate for me, because the more time I have with you, the more aware I am of my own very obvious flaws. And I realise you don't entirely trust me—no, let me say this,\" he insisted as Stephen tried to interrupt." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"I realise that and I don't blame you, but I want—I would like—you to give me a chance to demonstrate that you can. I'm not going back to Shanghai while you will have me here. In fact, I'm not leaving this damned country at all unless you're on the boat with me. I seem to be peculiarly inept at understanding your needs when we're not in bed, and I know I've got a hell of a lot wrong to date, but…don't run away from me, please. Don't disappear.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He looked up at the clear, cloudless sky to avoid Stephen's face. \"I recall when Tom first met Leo. Not first, but she had gone almost overnight from a gawky schoolgirl to a beauty, and we went to a party at her father's compound. She was quite wonderful, and afterwards Tom was silent for what felt like hours, and then he said to me, 'My life changed tonight.' Well, he had more sense than me, or saw things more clearly. My life changed four months ago, and I utterly failed to understand that until just recently, and therefore…I may have omitted to tell you that I love you.\" He took a breath. \"That's all.\"\n\nThey walked through the crowded streets, side by side, Crane limiting his stride to Stephen's, in silence for a few seconds." }, { "from": "human", "value": "When Stephen spoke, his voice was strangled." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Is there a reason you did that in public, when I can't even touch you, let alone—let alone say anything properly?\"\n\n\"Well, yes. I already know what your cock thinks. I'd like to hear from your head as well. Or your heart.\"\n\nStephen kept walking, head down, hands in pockets. Crane could feel his tension, pacing by his side." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Oh God,\" he said at last." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"I'm pathetic. You know perfectly well that I'm all yours, Lucien, or you should. I've got your tattoo, for heaven's sake. I'm marked for life. And I'm scared by that, I'm terrified. I have no idea why you think I'm brave, I'm an abject coward. I'm too frightened to believe this, you and I, can last because if it doesn't, I don't think I can bear it, so it would be easier not to start, but it's too late now.\" He swallowed. \"And it's not that I don't trust you. I just…struggle to believe that someone like you could really want someone like me. No, it's my turn, let me finish. You're an extremely attractive and eligible man, and I'm not. And I seem to do nothing but take from you—\"\n\n\"No, I can't let that pass, that is objectively horseshit. For heaven's sake, man, I can barely give you the time of day without a fight. Merrick says you're held together by spit and pride.\"\n\n\"Thank him for me.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Stephen pushed a hand through his hair." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"In any case, that's not the point. I'm not sure what the point was. Oh, hellfire. I love you, Lucien. It wouldn't be so nerve-wracking if I didn't.\"\n\nCrane took two more paces, feeling the illuminating joy spread through him, and had to control his voice as he observed, \"No, you're right, it was a terrible idea to do this in public. I don't suppose you could make us invisible?\"\n\n\"You must be joking,\" Stephen said. \"Look up.\"\n\nCrane looked and groaned aloud as he registered the magpies." }, { "from": "human", "value": "They were clustered on gas lamps and roof edges and railings, circling in the skies looking for roosts, a few of them landing in front of him on the pavement, staring with bright, beady eyes." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Oh for— Can't you make them go away?\"\n\n\"Don't blame me, I didn't call them.\" Stephen was grinning up at him with that familiar snag-toothed tweak in his top lip, and a light in his golden eyes that made Crane's heart lurch. \"And I suspect that anything I attempt to do will light up the street like a bonfire and summon practitioners from miles around. I'm feeling somewhat explosive right now.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"You and me both. I would very much like to get my hands on you.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"I want to get my mouth on you,\" said Stephen, astonishingly forward considering they weren't in bed, and now it wasn't only Crane's heart that was thumping. \"When this is over, could we go away? Your shooting place again?\"\n\n\"As soon as you like. How long can you take?\"\n\n\"How long do you want?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"The rest of your life.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Crane watched Stephen's eyes widen. \"For now, how about a fortnight?\"\n\n\"Done,\" Stephen said. \"And…done.\"\n\n\"God, sweet boy. I love you. I think I need to say that quite a lot.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Any time.\" Stephen's voice was a little shaky, his eyes bright." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "There was a flurry of wings as a group of magpies caught up with them, five landing in a row on the railings, four right in front of them on the pavement. Crane counted automatically and couldn't help grinning. \"Look at that. Do the damned things know the rhymes?\"\n\n\"I hope not. It's nine for a funeral, isn't it?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Crane let the back of his hand brush Stephen's arm." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Try, 'Nine for a lover as true as can be'.\"\n\n\"Oh. I like your version better.\" Stephen bumped gently back against him, a little touch, nothing to which an observer could object. \"Here's the Traders.\"\n\nCrane slowed his pace as they approached the square brick building." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"I want this business over. I think I could feel sorry for Peyton, you know, and that's not something I'd often say.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"So could I. But I bet Mr. Trotter couldn't. Lucien, I want you to come to Hammersmith with me. You don't have to talk to Peyton, or even witness the conversation, since I doubt it'll be pretty, but I want you to stay close. And you can wipe that smirk off. I meant, in case of rats.\"\n\n\"Rats? Me?\"\n\nStephen shrugged. \"You were Hart's friend. I don't know how far this will go. Humour me.\"\n\nCrane lifted an acknowledging hand." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"If you insist on me not dying horribly, I suppose I'll have to indulge you.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He led the way into the relative cool of the entrance hall and nodded to the porter. \"Hello, Arthurs. Can you whistle up Mr. Peyton's direction for me?\"\n\n\"Certainly, my lord, but do you want to speak to him? He's lunching upstairs.\"\n\nCrane glanced at Stephen." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Really? That's a stroke of luck. Yes, we'll go up, never mind the direction.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"What would you like to do now?\" Stephen asked quietly. \"Stay down here if it's too close to home.\"\n\n\"No, I'll come with you. It might be easier to get a word in private that way.\"\n\nThey headed up the stairs together, Crane torn between a flinching distaste for the job ahead and the temptation to head for the bar and order champagne." }, { "from": "human", "value": "It had doubtless been a crashingly inappropriate time to raise the subject of their relationship, but now… He didn't have to watch that look of pain and loneliness come back to Stephen's eyes." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He could take away the money worries, the fear of arrest, the quiet, constant fretting about a lonely future. He could treat Stephen as he deserved, and what was for certain, he would find a way to make sure the little sod was curled up in his bed every night, returning home to him, instead of vanishing wordlessly off to unexplained dangers. My little witch. Mine. He suppressed the urge to whistle." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"You look like the cat that swallowed the cream,\" Stephen said softly." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"That comes later. Here's the dining room.\"\n\nThe small-windowed room with its dark wood furnishings looked particularly dingy against the bright sunshine outside. Peyton was sitting alone with a newspaper. He didn't look happy to see Crane as they walked up to his table." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Vaudrey. Oh, I beg your pardon, Lord Crane.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He gave the usual sneer. \"And your little friend.\"\n\n\"Can we have a word with you?\"\n\nPeyton shrugged. \"If you must. What is it?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"In private, please,\" Stephen said." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"I don't particularly want to speak to you in private.\" Peyton rustled his paper pointedly. \"I'm waiting for my luncheon.\"\n\nStephen put a hand on Peyton's." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Listen to me. Get up and come with us now.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Peyton got up immediately and followed as Crane led them to one of the small studies. Stephen came last, shutting the door, as Peyton blinked in surprise to find himself there.\n\n\"Mr. Peyton. Tell me about Arabella.\"\n\nPeyton stared. \"Who?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Your relative Arabella.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"What about her?\"\n\n\"When did you find out she was dead?\"\n\nPeyton's brow furrowed. \"Well, when my sister wrote to me, of course.\"\n\n\"Your sister,\" repeated Stephen." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Yes. Maria. Great-Aunt Belle lived with her, till she dropped off her perch. What the devil does my family have to do with you?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Family?\" said Crane.\n\nStephen held Peyton's gaze. \"I want to know about your female relative from the Baptist mission in Shanghai.\"\n\n\"We're Anglicans,\" Peyton said." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"I don't have any relatives in Shanghai. Never did. And—\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Have you many here?\"\n\n\"Four sisters and their children. Look here, I don't—\"\n\n\"Shit,\" said Crane. \"Shit. Stephen…\"\n\n\"I know. Mr. Peyton, were you in Shanghai when Xan Ji-yin disappeared?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"What?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Answer me!\" Stephen shouted, making both the other men jump.\n\n\"Yes, I—\" Peyton began in wounded tones.\n\n\"Do you remember a girl who went missing from the Baptist mission?\"\n\n\"Is that what this is about? Town's sister? Lord, yes, she ran off with some man, didn't she? At least, I heard—\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Stephen turned and bolted for the door, Crane at his heels." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "They took the stairs two at a time, and Crane nearly tripped over Stephen as he stopped at the bottom. \"Send a note to Esther at the surgery,\" he said shortly. \"Tell them all to meet us at Cryer's lodgings. Catch me up.\"\n\n\"Take a cab.\" Crane fumbled for a handful of change. \"I'm sorry, Stephen.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"My responsibility.\" Stephen grabbed the money and darted outside." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Crane scrawled the note and paid a messenger lavishly to get it there as fast as possible, then hailed a hackney himself, cursing foully. It hadn't occurred to him to doubt Town: the man had always been part of the scenery, a reliable gossip, something of a joke. He observed and relayed events; he didn't take part in them.\n\nBut he had sent them off on a wild-goose chase after a man he knew Crane disliked." }, { "from": "human", "value": "And Crane should have known there was something wrong with his tale of the solitary man and his only relative because he'd bloody met Peyton's bloody nephew—at this point he banged his head, hard, against the side of the carriage—and now he had comprehensively let Stephen down. Fuck." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He believed part of Town's story though. The beloved sister, the lifetime of bitterness. That had rung very true. He could imagine how it would feel to have someone you love vanish forever—he had imagined it, he realised, that time Stephen had gone off after a warlock and not come back for four days without a word." }, { "from": "human", "value": "And to have men like Peyton cast casual aspersions on a loved sister's honour must have been gall in the wound, even before Town knew she was dead." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Who had told him?\n\nThe cab stopped, and Crane hurried up the steps to Town's lodgings. The housekeeper let him in without argument, a blank look in her eyes. Stephen was using fluence with abandon, it seemed." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Town's door was open." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Don't come in,\" called Stephen from within as Crane strode up. \"He's long gone. I'm trying to ascertain where. Not very good at it, I need Esther's nose. Can you stay outside? You play hob with everything.\"\n\nThat, discretion aside, meant that Stephen was interrogating the ether for traces of Town. He had occasionally mentioned that Crane's etheric presence was extremely strong, pulling the imperceptible currents towards him." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Yu Len, a Chinese shaman, had always said Crane had powerful ch'i, but it had never actually caused a problem before." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Feeling that he'd done enough damage for one day, Crane retreated obediently outside and stood, waiting, estimating how long it would take the other justiciars to arrive, wondering what they would do with Leonora. What he really wanted to think about was whether Stephen would agree to move his home to Crane's rooms in the Strand, but under the circumstances that felt like tempting fate.\n\nHe was staring out into the road when a cab pulled up further down and Monk Humphris got out.\n\nMonk seemed fretful and worried, as he had for weeks." }, { "from": "human", "value": "He marched up towards Town's lodgings, brows close." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Crane lifted a hand in greeting, and, since that failed to catch the man's eye, called, \"Hoi, Monk!\"\n\nMonk looked up and saw him. His whole face changed to a mask of horror as he registered Crane outside Town's building. Then he turned and fled down the street." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Crane was after him before he had time to think." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "It wasn't a rational decision. He saw the running man, and he chased, his mind catching up with his body as he ran.\n\nThis was probably stupid. Probably pointless. But Stephen could follow him if he had to, and better he should chase down Monk and find him irrelevant than let another lead go." }, { "from": "human", "value": "And it wasn't pointless." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Why would Monk run if he didn't have to? The heat thundered on the back of Crane's neck and beat down on his light grey suit, rapidly getting sweat-soaked. Merrick would murder him. Stephen had told him, long ago, \"no Savile Row\" when they faced running for their lives; as his expensive shoes slithered on the paving stones, he recalled the truth of that." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Monk was tiring now, shoulders heaving, steps slowing." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He cornered desperately into an alley. Crane put on a burst of speed, long legs giving him an advantage as ever, swung round the corner, hurdled a pile of rubbish that Monk had knocked across the way, and grabbed the man by his shoulder.\n\nMonk, gasping, turned. He was trying to fight but he looked exhausted.\n\n\"Pack it in,\" Crane panted." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"What the hell, Monk?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Go away,\" Monk managed, between heaving breaths. \"In God's name, go, man. Run. Run!\"\n\n\"Why?\"\n\nMonk stared at him, wide eyed." }, { "from": "human", "value": "He took a single sucking breath." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Then his pupils contracted, vanishing to pinpoints, so that his eyes were blank and staring. Something dreadful, fear and pain, swept across his face and vanished, leaving only a featureless acceptance. He focused his unseeing gaze on Crane, and hissed, \"Shaman.\"\n\n\"What?\" said Crane. \"I'm not.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Shaman,\" repeated Monk, sniffing, his nose wriggling with hideous mobility, greed blossoming in his dead eyes." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"No.\" Crane took a step back, wanting to run, suddenly realising what a bad mistake this had been. \"Monk?\"\n\n\"Power.\" Monk spoke in Shanghainese. \"Strength and joy and ch'i. So much. Yes, this will do.\"\n\nHe reached out a clawed hand." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Crane took another step back, then finally obeyed his screaming instincts, turned, and bolted, right into Town Cryer, who grabbed him by the arm." }, { "from": "system", "value": "Next message should be approximately 1 sentence." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"You stupid bloody fool,\" said Town, and everything went black." } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Continue with the same vibes as Adib Khorram" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Here's the thing: I'm still not entirely sure how I ended up doing homework with Cyprian Cusumano at Mindspace several days a week." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "In fact, I'm not entirely sure how we ended up friends.\n\nGrowing up, Chip had teased me almost as much as Trent did. And then somehow, after I got back from Iran, things changed. Chip started being nice to me." }, { "from": "human", "value": "He said hi in the halls, and we hung out at practice, and we biked home together—Chip's house was in the same direction as mine—and talked about soccer or homework or whatever." }, { "from": "system", "value": "Now write approximately 5 sentences." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "One day after practice, when we both had American Lit essays to work on, Chip asked if I wanted to work on them together, and I had suggested Mindspace, and somehow, a tradition was born.\n\nI kind of liked hanging out and doing homework with Chip.\n\nI don't know why, but I did.\n\nThat's normal.\n\nRight?" } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "The user will write a bit then you need to write around four sentences continuing directly from the user's text. Try to mimic the style of Adib Khorram.Produce four sentences using the prose and structure of Adib Khorram every time its your turn using what the user wrote as a seed." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Saturday morning, instead of sleeping in, I woke up to the smell of something amazing: cinnamon rolls." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "In the taxonomy of breakfast foods, cinnamon rolls are the only food more exalted than bacon.\n\nI grabbed my hoodie off the floor, pulled on yesterday's joggers, and followed my watering mouth to the kitchen. Cinnamon rolls could only mean one thing: Grandma and Oma were here.\n\nSure enough, Oma was at the sink, scrubbing out a pan Dad had left soaking overnight, and Grandma was filling the kettle." }, { "from": "human", "value": "I cleared my throat. \"Morning.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Grandma turned around. \"Morning, Darius.\" Melanie Kellner was tall—nearly six feet—with gray hair cut in a pixie style and sky-blue eyes. She had a pair of clear-framed glasses pushed up onto her forehead, and she pulled them down to study me. \"You've gotten taller.\"\n\n\"Maybe.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Oma peered over her shoulder at me." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"And you finally got a haircut.\"\n\nI rubbed at the back of my head. \"Yeah.\"\n\nShe turned back to the dishes while I gave her a kiss on the cheek. Oma was taller than Grandma, but only just." }, { "from": "human", "value": "She had longer hair, down to her shoulders, and it was a sort of light brown, though there were streaks of gray in it." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "She had blue eyes too, but they were darker, more like Dad's. And she had Dad's Teutonic jaw too.\n\nI kissed Grandma hello and gave her one of those awkward side hugs.\n\nMy grandmothers only ever did side hugs." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"You've got quite a collection,\" Grandma said, inventorying my tea cabinet." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "It was crammed full of tins and pouches and mason jars. Not to mention the jar of Persian tea we kept on the counter because it was too big to fit in the cabinet.\n\n\"What's new?\"\n\n\"Here.\" I pulled down a mason jar filled with a single-estate Assam." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"This is nice and brisk.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "She unscrewed the lid and sniffed. \"Mmm. The cinnamon rolls are almost done.\"\n\n\"Where's Stephen?\" Oma asked. She rinsed off the pot and then pulled the plug to let the sink drain." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"And your mom and Laleh?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Dad likes to let Mom sleep in on the weekends.\"\n\n\"Hm.\"\n\nBut as soon as I said that, Mom stepped into the kitchen, already dressed for work.\n\nI hated when she had to work on weekends." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Those smell so good,\" she said, kissing Grandma and Oma hello." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Save one for me?\"\n\n\"Of course,\" Oma said.\n\nMom kissed me on the forehead on her way out the door. \"Have fun with your grandmothers.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"I will. Thanks.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "While I made a pot of Assam, Laleh came downstairs, no doubt lured by the same tantalizing scent that had roused me from bed.\n\n\"You want to help ice them, Laleh?\" Grandma asked. She handed Laleh the little plastic canister of icing.\n\n\"Yeah.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Laleh used a fork to drizzle zigzags of icing over the rolls in their circular pan while I set the table for five." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Your dad's not still in bed, is he?\" Grandma asked.\n\n\"Just taking a shower,\" Dad said from the doorway. He was in his blue sweatpants and a gray Kellner & Newton T-shirt, his short hair still damp and messy. He usually kept his blond hair combed and styled with a perfect side-part, but that was before he and Mom were tired all the time." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Did you leave the fan on?\"" }, { "from": "system", "value": "Now write approximately 5 sentences." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Oma asked. \"We're going to clean the bathrooms after breakfast.\"\n\n\"You don't have to do that, Linda.\"\n\nDad always called Oma by her first name.\n\n\"Someone's got to.\"\n\nDad cleared his throat and rested his hand on my head. \"Who's hungry?\"" } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Mode:\nCo-writing\n\nLength:\nfour sentences\n\nStyle:\nAdib Khorram" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"How'd you do?\" Chip asked." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He was already dressed for practice, leaning up against a locker with his arms folded as I laced up my cleats.\n\n\"Hm?\"\n\n\"On your algebra.\"\n\n\"Got a C. Hanging in there.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"You want to go over it later?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"You don't have to do that.\"\n\n\"I don't mind.\"\n\nI studied Chip.\n\nHe wasn't grinning at me—not really—but there was something going on in his brown eyes." }, { "from": "human", "value": "The ghost of a grin, maybe." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Or a temporal echo of a grin he hadn't actually grinned yet.\n\n\"Okay,\" I said. \"Sure. Thanks.\"\n\nI adjusted my shin guards and followed Chip out to the field.\n\n\"Coach Winfield had us doing wind sprints today,\" I said." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"If I die during practice, tell my tea I love it.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"If you die during practice, can I have your locker?\"\n\nChip's was at the other end of the locker room, with all the football players—one last legacy of his time on the Chapel Hill High School junior varsity football team. At least once a week he complained the smell was getting to him.\n\n\"All right, Chargers!\" Coach Bentley called as we hit the field." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Give me a couple laps and then circle up at the whistle!\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Chip patted my back and then broke into a jog. I kept pace with him despite the burning in my legs. We passed Jaden, who looked like he was hurting as bad as me. Gabe ran like he always did, sure-footed and swift and tireless, like he hadn't done an hour of wind sprints after lunch." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Halfway through our fifth lap, Coach blew her whistle twice, and we circled up by one of the goalposts." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The rainy morning had given way to an overcast afternoon, and the cool breeze cut right through my jersey and had me shivering where I stood. We linked hands, and I was grateful to be squeezed between Chip's and James's warm bodies.\n\nCoach started us off. \"You all won our first game, and I'm proud of you for that. But I'm more proud of all the hard work you've put in. Let's keep it going.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Jonny Without an H told us all how Jaden had spotted him lunch money; and Gabe told us how Ricky had proofread his assignment in their Creative Writing class." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Next to me, Chip said, \"I was in a really bad mood this morning, but I ran into Darius and we biked to school together. It made me feel a lot better. Thanks, Darius.\"\n\nHe gave my hand a little squeeze.\n\nMy ears burned.\n\nI hadn't done it on purpose." }, { "from": "human", "value": "I didn't deserve Chip's praise." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Then it was my turn, so I said, \"Chip said he'd help me with Algebra II. I could really use the help. So, thanks, Chip.\"\n\nI tried to squeeze his hand back, but since our arms were crossed, I did the wrong one and accidentally squeezed James's hand instead.\n\nI don't think he noticed, though, or he just thought I was telling him it was his turn, because he told us how Coach Bentley had taken time to work on his back heel kick with him.\n\nBy the time we made it all the way around the circle, my jaw was clenching up from the chill." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Thankfully Coach Bentley said, \"Count off and let's go.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "We divided up into Ones and Twos—me and the other Twos wearing bright blue vests to help tell us all apart—and took the field. Christian, our captain and goalie, led us through some warm-up drills until Coach blew her whistle again.\n\n\"Okay,\" Christian said. \"Bring it in.\" He was a Black guy, a senior, with light brown skin and the most amazing cheekbones I had ever encountered." }, { "from": "human", "value": "He always had a friendly smile, but it was the kind of smile that was more a shield than an invitation." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Not that I blamed him: People always think of Portland as this super liberal place, and it is, but it's also super white.\n\nAs bad as it was being The Once and Future Target, I knew—I knew—that Christian had experienced worse.\n\nSometimes I wanted to talk to him about it. To let him know I had his back, the way Gabe and Jaden had mine." }, { "from": "human", "value": "But I didn't know how to say that out loud." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Gabe likes to play it aggressive,\" Christian said, glancing across the field at the Ones. \"Let's be smart. We've got the better defenders. Keep it cool and look for your opening.\"\n\nWe all nodded.\n\n\"Darius?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Yeah?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Cover me.\"\n\n\"Okay.\"\n\nAt least Christian knew I had his back on the field.\n\nMaybe that was enough for now." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"One two three,\" he said." }, { "from": "system", "value": "Your next one should be approximately 1 sentence." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Chargers!\"" } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Let's engage in a collaborative writing exercise. I'll provide a starting point, and You'll continue with 4 sentences in the style of Adib Khorram." }, { "from": "system", "value": "Produce a starting prompt please." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "It was nearly nine o'clock when the garage door finally rumbled. Everyone else was in bed, but I was sitting in the kitchen, icing myself again.\n\nI dumped the ice in the sink and pulled out the leftover taco meat for Mom.\n\n\"Hey, sweetie.\" I wrapped my mom in a hug, but her whole body was like a polarized hull plate, rigid and brittle." }, { "from": "human", "value": "After a moment she finally relaxed against me." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "But then the microwave beeped.\n\n\"You don't need to do that for me.\"\n\n\"I want to.\"\n\n\"All right. How was your day?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"It was okay,\" I said." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Mom didn't seem like she was in the mood to hear about my testicular trauma.\n\nI wasn't in the mood to talk about it anyway.\n\n\"How was yours?\"\n\n\"Long.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "I pulled down a plate for her and grabbed the rest of the taco fixings out of the fridge while she checked something on her phone." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "She looked up and frowned at me. \"I can make my own dinner, you know.\"\n\n\"I don't mind. Want some tea?\"\n\nMom sighed and sat down." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"I better not. Thanks.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "I grabbed my cup—a second steeping of Ti Kwan Yin, which had more mellow floral notes than the first steeping—and sat next to her.\n\n\"How did your test go?\"\n\n\"I got a C.\"\n\n\"Do you need some help? We can go over your problems together.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"It's okay. I went to Chip's after practice and we worked on it together.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Oh. That's nice.\" Mom took a bite of taco and studied me as she chewed. \"You've been spending a lot of time with him lately.\"\n\nI don't know why it felt like such an accusation when she said that.\n\nI don't know why I felt like I had to defend myself." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"He's been really helpful,\" I said." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Oh. I left my bike at his house. Think you can drop me off in the morning?\"\n\nMom frowned. \"I can't tomorrow. Early meeting. Oma or Grandma will have to.\"\n\n\"Oh.\"\n\n\"I wish I could, though.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"It's okay. Really.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "I let Mom eat in silence after that.\n\nThere was something she wasn't saying out loud, something I was supposed to know but didn't.\n\nWhen she finished, she wiped her hands and mouth, careful to avoid her lipstick.\n\n\"I better go put Laleh to bed.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Oma already did. She even got her to take a bath.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Really?\"\n\n\"Yeah.\"\n\n\"Well then.\" Mom glanced toward the stairs.\n\nI sipped my tea." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Want to watch something? Star Trek?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Um.\"\n\nMom had never asked me to watch Star Trek before.\n\nThat was always me and Dad's thing.\n\nI didn't know what to say." } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Provide four sentences as a continuation." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Grandma and Oma were at the dining room table when I got home, sipping mint tea and reading." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Oma was always reading mysteries—the more twisted, the better—while Grandma was into biographies.\n\nI'd never managed to convince either of them to read any science fiction or fantasy. They said they preferred \"real books.\"\n\nI don't know why that made me so mad." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Neither of them looked up when I walked in." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "I pulled the door shut behind me, and they didn't respond.\n\nThat aura of quiet unhappiness had returned to our house, an oppressive miasma that hung in the air like a coolant leak.\n\nI cleared my throat and said, \"Hi.\"\n\n\"How'd it go today?\" Oma said." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"We won.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Good. That makes three in a row, right?\"\n\n\"Yeah. Gabe—that's our forward—he even got a hat trick.\"\n\nGrandma whistled but kept reading.\n\n\"How about you?\" Oma asked. \"How'd you do?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "I shrugged. \"The ball barely made it to me.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"You should be more aggressive.\"\n\nThat was something my old coach, from when I played as a kid, would say. Be aggressive.\n\nCoach Bentley never said anything like that.\n\nI really liked that about her." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Where's Laleh?\" I asked." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Grandma sighed. \"In her room. She's been there most of the night.\"\n\n\"How come?\"\n\nOma folded down the page she was reading and closed her book. \"She got into a fight at school today.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "First of all, I never folded pages—I always used bookmarks—and there was a moment where I wondered if Oma and I were even related to each other." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Second, Laleh had never been in a fight in her life. Not ever. What Oma said was impossible.\n\nSo I said, \"What?\"\n\nAnd then I said, \"Laleh's never been in a fight before.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Oma nodded. \"She won't tell us what happened.\"" }, { "from": "system", "value": "Your next one should be approximately 2 sentences." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Grandma said, \"Her teacher couldn't get the full story either.\"\n\nSo then I said, \"Maybe she'll talk to me.\"" } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Task: The user will write a bit then you need to write around four sentences continuing directly from the user's text.\n\nAuthor style: Adib Khorram" }, { "from": "human", "value": "I put Laleh to bed and kissed her forehead and left her door cracked, the way she liked it." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "I tried calling Sohrab. No answer, but he was probably in school anyway.\n\nOma and Grandma had already gone to bed, but I stayed in the kitchen with a cup of New Vithanakande, a tea from Ceylon that has this great round, mellow mouthfeel and notes of chocolate on the palate.\n\nI sipped my tea and worked on my Algebra II." }, { "from": "human", "value": "We'd moved on to logarithms, which I didn't get at all." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "I kind of wished Chip was around to help me.\n\nBut that made me feel weird.\n\nAshamed of myself.\n\nI was finishing up when the garage door rumbled." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Hi, sweetie. How was your day?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Okay,\" I said. \"Better than Laleh's. You heard what happened?\"\n\nMom sighed and went to the fridge. She opened the bag of leftover bacon, pulled a piece out, and ate it cold.\n\nMy lips quirked." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"What?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"You used to yell at me when I did that.\"\n\n\"I did not.\"\n\nI grinned.\n\n\"Did I?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Yeah. And then Dad would ask me why I wasn't eating a piece of fruit or a celery stick instead.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Mom sighed. Her shoulders slumped.\n\nI had never seen my mother look so exhausted before.\n\n\"We've been pretty crappy parents, haven't we?\"\n\nI blinked." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Mom had never said something like that to me before." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Of course not.\"\n\nMom grabbed another piece of bacon and tossed the bag back in the fridge.\n\n\"Really,\" I said.\n\n\"Thank you, sweetie.\" She plopped onto the chair next to me." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"I'm just tired. And now your sister's teacher wants me to come in for a conference.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Did she tell you what happened?\"\n\n\"She said Laleh's been having trouble in class lately. And today she got into a fight.\"\n\n\"One of Laleh's classmates called her a terrorist,\" I said. \"And some of them have been calling her Lolly.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Mom shook her head and looked toward the stairs." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "I swallowed.\n\n\"She said it's been happening ever since we went to Iran.\"\n\nMom snapped back to me.\n\n\"What are you saying? We shouldn't have gone?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "I didn't know why she was so angry." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "I didn't know what I'd done wrong.\n\n\"I'm not saying that.\"\n\nMom huffed.\n\n\"Really.\" I twisted the hem of my shirt around my finger." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"If we hadn't gone to see Babou? I think we would have regretted it forever.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "I watched the anger drain from Mom's face.\n\n\"It's just. Well, Laleh never stood out before that. She got treated like all the white kids. But now . . .\"\n\n\"Iranians are white, though.\"\n\nI bit my lip." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Just because that's the blank we fill out on forms at the doctor's office doesn't make it true." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "No one at school ever treated me like I was white once they found out my mom was from Iran.\n\nLaleh's classmates weren't treating her like she was white.\n\nSo I said, \"Laleh is getting singled out. And the teacher is punishing her instead of the kids teasing her.\"\n\n\"You're right.\" Mom pursed her lips." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"But I don't know what to do. I have a meeting with a client tomorrow afternoon. Grandma is going with Laleh instead.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "I thought about Melanie Kellner, trying to explain racism to Laleh's teacher.\n\nI thought about how none of my own teachers ever got what it was like. How they never protected me from being a Target.\n\n\"Want me to go with them?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"You don't have to do that, sweetie. Don't you have practice?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Coach Bentley will understand,\" I said. \"I want to. Really. I'm the only one who knows what it's like.\"\n\nMom started running her fingers through my hair.\n\n\"Was school like that for you too?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Sometimes.\" It still was, kind of." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Sometimes people just don't like Iranians. Or anyone from the Middle East, really.\"\n\n\"I'm sorry.\"\n\n\"Don't be.\"\n\nMom stared out the kitchen window." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"You know, when I first moved here, people said things to me too. Especially after 9/11.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "She kept playing with my hair.\n\n\"I guess I just got used to it. And I worked hard to be as white as I could. That's one reason I didn't teach you Farsi like I should have.\"\n\nMom had told me that before: that she didn't want me to feel different from the other kids.\n\n\"I even went by Sharon for a while, because my professors couldn't say Shirin right.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Sharon Bahrami?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Mom snorted. \"It lasted about two weeks, before your dad talked me out of it.\" She smiled and twisted a lock of my hair around her finger, then let it go and admired the curl. She rested her palm against my cheek.\n\n\"Maybe I should have learned more, so I could prepare you and your sister better. But no one wants to think that their kids are going to get called terrorists at school. And that they can't protect them from it.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"You don't have to protect me, Mom.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Mom pulled my head down to kiss my forehead.\n\n\"Yes I do,\" she said. \"Always.\"\n\n\"Well.\" I swallowed. \"I have to protect Laleh.\"" } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Task: The user will write a bit then you need to write around 4 sentences continuing directly from the user's text.\n\nAuthor style: Adib Khorram" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Our game against the Beaverton East Eagles was tough." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Neither team scored, so we ended up in a shoot-out.\n\nThe Eagles' first shooter scored with a tricky shot that ricocheted off the corner and into the net, but Gabe got them back with a slick shot of his own. No one else scored after that: James and Nick and Jaden all missed, and so did Beaverton's shooters.\n\nBut then it was Chip's turn." }, { "from": "human", "value": "I held my breath as he sized up the goal and took the shot." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "And scored.\n\nThe stands went wild—at least the small cluster of parents and friends did. People didn't care about the Chapel Hill High School varsity men's soccer team the way they cared about the football team.\n\nDad was conspicuously absent." }, { "from": "human", "value": "His flight got delayed." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The guys all clustered around Chip, laughing and shoving each other and high-fiving and exchanging sweaty hugs.\n\nI hung back a little bit. I don't know why.\n\nBut then Jaden saw me." } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Let's engage in a collaborative writing exercise. I'll provide a starting point, and You'll continue with 4 sentences in the style of Adib Khorram." }, { "from": "system", "value": "Produce a starting prompt please." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "It was our first loss.\n\nAll because I let number 7 get past me.\n\nIt felt like it should've been raining as we lined up to shake hands with the Trojans.\n\nMaybe even a bit of thunder in the distance or something." }, { "from": "human", "value": "But the sun was out, and I squinted at it to keep myself from crying." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "As we went down the line, number 7 gave me a fist bump. \"Tricky,\" he said.\n\n\"Thanks.\"\n\nNot tricky enough, though.\n\nI let him get past me." }, { "from": "human", "value": "I wished Sohrab were around." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "With Sohrab I was invincible.\n\nAs we trudged toward the lockers—some of the guys, like Jaden and Gabe, with their hands behind their heads in Surrender Cobra—Chip rested his hand on my shoulder.\n\n\"You okay?\"\n\n\"Yeah.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Chip gave me a little squeeze." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Don't—\"\n\nBut he didn't finish, because Trent Bolger was whistling and waving at him from the stands, still dressed in his Chapel Hill High School varsity football jersey. He must've come straight from practice.\n\nI couldn't believe Trent Bolger, of all people, would drive across town after practice to watch Chip's soccer game." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Chip patted me on the back and jogged over toward Trent." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "I followed behind, a little slower, angled to meet Dad where he stood with Grandma and Oma.\n\n\"Good game, son,\" Dad said.\n\n\"Thanks,\" I said. \"I wish you could've seen us win.\"\n\n\"You were great out there. You played your hardest.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Next to him, Oma said, \"I bet you won't fall for that trick again.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"I guess not.\"\n\n\"That number 7 was something,\" Grandma said. \"Is he already committed somewhere?\"\n\n\"Oh. Um. I don't know his name.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"I'll go ask the coach.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Grandma patted my arm as she passed me. \"You'll do better next time.\"\n\nOma turned to Dad. \"My knees are acting up. Meet you at the car?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Sure.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Once my grandmothers were both out of earshot, Dad let out this low breath.\n\n\"They don't mean it like that,\" Dad said.\n\n\"Like what?\"\n\n\"Like . . .\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Dad swallowed. \"I just don't want you to think they're disappointed in you.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Oh.\"\n\nI mean, I did think that.\n\nHow could I not?\n\nDisappointed was the default setting for Oma and Grandma." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Just like love was the default setting for Mamou and Babou." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "My eyes started burning again. I looked up toward the sun so Dad wouldn't notice.\n\nNext to us, Trent said something that made Chip laugh like a donkey.\n\nCyprian Cusumano had a hilarious laugh." }, { "from": "human", "value": "I glanced their way at exactly the wrong time, because Trent caught my eye." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He did that thing where you stick your chin out to acknowledge someone.\n\nTrent Bolger was the kind of guy you see in movies, where there's always one guy who's kind of mean to everyone, but they put up with him because he's good-looking or something. But Trent wasn't even good-looking. His nostrils were too big for his nose, and he had a terrible haircut: an undercut with a little oval of longer hair on top, combed to the side for the most part but left to do whatever in the back." }, { "from": "human", "value": "It did nothing for his very aggressive forehead." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Darius?\"\n\n\"Hm?\"\n\nDad chuckled. \"Go be with your friends.\"\n\n\"Okay.\" I stepped in for one of those diagonal shoulder hugs, to try and keep my sweat and grass stains off him." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Dad kissed my forehead." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"I'm so proud of you.\" He held on to my neck and looked into my eyes.\n\nAnd then he said, \"I love you, son.\"\n\n\"I love you too, Dad.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "He let out this tiny sigh." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"See you at home?\"\n\n\"Yeah.\"\n\nI headed for the lockers. Chip was still talking to Trent, but as I walked past, Trent said, \"Right between the legs, huh? Guess you're used to that.\"" } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "expand on the story like Adib Khorram would" }, { "from": "system", "value": "Produce a starting prompt please." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"No, wait.\" Chip pointed to my mistake. \"it is -i.\"\n\n\"Crap.\"\n\nI scratched out my mistake and started over.\n\nI had a test in Algebra II on Monday, and Chip had agreed to help me study, as long as we did it at his place so he could babysit Evie." }, { "from": "human", "value": "She sat on his lap, absolutely entranced by the orange plastic bowl of Cheerios in front of her." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Her tiny fingers grasped a few at a time, let some fall like drops of water, and then stuffed whatever remained into her mouth.\n\nEvery once in a while, Chip would lean down and kiss her head.\n\nI worked through my equation again, but I kept glancing at Chip and his niece.\n\nSomewhere along the way, Cyprian Cusumano had changed from Trent Bolger's sidekick, to a guy on my soccer team, to a real friend." }, { "from": "human", "value": "A friend who looked cute sitting at the table with his little niece on his lap." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "I snapped my eyes back to my paper and kept working.\n\n\"Wait,\" I said, after a few more minutes of scribbling. \"So this whole thing just adds up to zero?\"\n\nChip leaned over to look." }, { "from": "human", "value": "His lips moved silently as he read over my work." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Yup. That's—\"\n\nBut before he could finish, Evie smacked the rim of her bowl and sent Cheerios flying everywhere.\n\n\"Evie! Sorry about that.\" He set her on the floor, and she squealed and ran into the living room, her little legs pumping up and down like her quads were burned out from a superset of heavy back squats." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"It's okay.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "I shook the Cheerios off my laptop onto my scratch paper and got on the floor to help Chip scoop up the ones that had fallen.\n\n\"Thanks.\" He glanced up at me and giggled.\n\n\"What?\"\n\nHe reached into my hair and pulled out a Cheerio." }, { "from": "human", "value": "I shivered as his fingers grazed my scalp." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Oh. Thanks.\"\n\nChip grinned that funny grin of his.\n\nHe didn't say anything, just looked at me.\n\nI swallowed." }, { "from": "human", "value": "My whole body was warm, like I'd been dropped into a plasma conduit." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Um,\" I said.\n\nAnd then I tried to stand, but I hit the top of my head on the table.\n\n\"Ow.\"\n\nChip busted out laughing at that." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Sorry. Sorry. It's not funny.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Yeah. Well. If I get a brain injury, maybe I can get out of taking this test.\"\n\n\"Hey.\" Chip furrowed his eyebrows. \"You got this. Really.\"\n\nFrom the living room, Evie let out a squeal of joy. Or maybe mischief." }, { "from": "human", "value": "There was the sound of something plastic hitting the floor." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Chip exhaled out the side of his mouth.\n\n\"Gimme a second,\" he said.\n\nOnce he'd gotten Evie under control—which required bribing her with some watered-down apple juice in a sippy cup—he sat back down and leaned over to look at the rest of the practice problems.\n\n\"You're getting the hang of it. But here.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "He showed me where I'd missed a step and then sat back as I worked." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Ah, wait. You've got to factor it first.\" He scooted his chair closer to me, so our knees were touching. Evie took the opportunity to wiggle her way from his lap to mine.\n\n\"Evie . . .\" Chip began." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"It's okay. I don't mind.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Evie rested her head against the crook of my elbow as she drank her juice and I fought with imaginary numbers.\n\nI didn't really get the point and purpose of imaginary numbers.\n\n\"Okay. Better.\" Chip looked over everything and nodded. \"I think you've got it.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "I sighed. \"Now I've got to do it on the test.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Don't worry. You'll do great.\"\n\n\"Maybe.\"\n\nThe thing about Chip was, he just got things. And he didn't know what it was like to not get things." }, { "from": "human", "value": "To try and try and still not succeed." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Evie squirmed in my lap.\n\n\"You want down?\" I asked.\n\nShe nodded. I held her as I scooted away from the table, then set her down. She tossed her juice onto the floor and ran off again." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Chip shook his head and scooped the sippy cup off the floor." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He looked at me and did this kind of half smile.\n\nI blinked and then looked down at my hands.\n\n\"I guess I better get home.\"\n\n\"No rush.\" He patted my knee." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Hey. What're you doing for homecoming?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"I. Uh.\" My cheeks started to warm. \"I asked Landon to go with me.\"\n\n\"Cool.\"\n\n\"How about you?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"I think I missed my window.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He shrugged. \"Should've spoken up sooner.\"\n\n\"Oh. Sorry.\"\n\n\"Yeah. Kind of sucks when you like someone but they don't like you back.\"\n\n\"As a gay guy I definitely have no idea what that feels like. Definitely never crushed on any straight guys ever.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Chip snorted." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Trent doesn't have a date either, so we're just getting a big group together. Why don't you and Landon join us?\"\n\n\"Oh,\" I said. \"I think we're good.\"\n\nChip's eyebrows furrowed. \"What?\"\n\n\"What what?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"You made a face.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"No I didn't.\"\n\n\"You did!\"\n\nTo be fair, the statistical likelihood of me making a face at the mention of Trent Bolger was definitely non-zero.\n\n\"You're doing it again!\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Doing what?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"That face!\" Chip poked me in the little crease between my eyebrows.\n\nI leaned back.\n\n\"Don't.\"\n\n\"Sorry. But what is it?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "I sighed." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "And then I said, \"Why do you keep trying to get me to hang out with him? You know he hates me.\"\n\n\"He doesn't hate you.\"\n\n\"Well, he's never been nice. Why are you friends with a guy like that anyway?\"\n\nAs soon as I said it I wished I could take it back." }, { "from": "human", "value": "You couldn't just say things like that to someone." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Try to control who someone was friends with.\n\nBut then I said, \"I get you have to deal with him because of Evie and stuff, but . . .\"\n\nChip shook his head. \"It's not like that. I mean, we've been friends ever since preschool. You remember?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"I remember you and Trent calling me Doofius.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Chip lowered his eyes.\n\n\"Sorry.\"\n\n\"Whatever. We were kids. But now, you're . . .\"\n\n\"What?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"You're nice.\" I swallowed." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"I mean, the last couple months, you've been nice to me. Ever since I got back from Iran. And Trent is still . . . kind of mean.\"\n\n\"You just don't know him very well. That's all. It's his sense of humor. He's just teasing.\"\n\n\"It doesn't feel like teasing,\" I said. \"It never has.\"\n\nChip blinked at me." }, { "from": "human", "value": "I looked down at my hands again." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "My cuticles were looking rough, probably because I'd taken to chewing them every time I thought about the square root of negative one.\n\n\"I didn't mean it that way,\" Chip said. His voice was quiet and small. \"I'm sorry if I hurt you.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Thanks.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"I did hurt you, didn't I?\"\n\nI shrugged. \"Sometimes.\"\n\nChip let out a slow breath.\n\n\"Well.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Yeah.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "We sat like that, in a Level Twelve Painful Silence.\n\nI'd made it weird between us.\n\nBut then Evie ran back into the room with a pair of safety scissors she'd found somewhere.\n\nChip sprang out of his seat." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Evie! That's not a toy.\"" }, { "from": "system", "value": "Next message should be approximately 2 sentences." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He chased after her.\n\nAnd the moment had passed." } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Mode:\nCo-writing\n\nLength:\n4 sentences\n\nStyle:\nAdib Khorram" }, { "from": "system", "value": "Produce a starting prompt please." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "I ran into Chip at the bike rack.\n\n\"Hey,\" he said, but he didn't grin his usual grin.\n\nThings had been weird between us ever since Sunday.\n\nI wished I could take back what I said." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Well. Not really." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "I was telling the truth.\n\nBut I never realized the truth would be so dangerous.\n\n\"Hey,\" I said.\n\n\"Did Ms. Albertson post your grade yet?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Last night.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "I almost smiled.\n\nAlmost.\n\n\"I got a B!\"\n\nThat got a grin out of Chip." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"That's great.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Thanks again. For helping me.\"\n\n\"Sure.\" Chip kept grinning at me, but after a minute it slipped away.\n\nAnd then things were weird again.\n\n\"See you at practice?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "I swallowed." }, { "from": "system", "value": "Next message should be approximately 1 sentence." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Yeah.\"" } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Continue with the same vibes as Adib Khorram" }, { "from": "human", "value": "When they were dried, my nails were this perfect color." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "It made me think of Yazd. Of the turquoise minarets of the Jameh Mosque shining out in the sun.\n\nOf sitting with Sohrab on the roof of this bathroom in the park where we used to play soccer/Iranian football.\n\nOf drinking tea in companionable silence with Mamou and Babou." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Grandma insisted on doing the dishes, so Laleh and I sat in the living room and helped Oma with a puzzle." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Hello?\" Mom called from the kitchen.\n\nI hadn't even heard the garage door open.\n\n\"Oh. Hi.\"\n\nMom was laden with Target bags." }, { "from": "human", "value": "I set them on the counter and grabbed the rest from her trunk." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "When everything was unloaded, I hugged Mom and let her kiss my forehead.\n\n\"Wait.\"\n\nShe grabbed my hands and turned them over.\n\nMy ears burned." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Do you like it?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "I whispered. \"Oma did it. We all did our nails this afternoon.\"\n\n\"It's nice,\" she said.\n\nBut her voice was pinched when she said it, and there was this look in her eyes.\n\nI got this ugly feeling." }, { "from": "human", "value": "One I couldn't shake." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "I wondered if Mom was embarrassed by me.\n\n\"It reminded me of Yazd,\" I said.\n\nMom rested her palm against my cheek.\n\n\"Mom! Mom!\" Laleh ran in. \"Look!\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "She showed off her pink nails, which transitioned from fuchsia on her thumbs to bubblegum on her pinkies." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"They're beautiful, Laleh,\" she said. \"How was school?\"\n\nLaleh told Mom all about her day while I made a pot of jasmine tea.\n\nBut by the time it was ready, the puzzle had been cleared off, and Oma and Grandma were playing on their iPads again.\n\nLaleh was curled up reading her book, and Mom had gone upstairs." }, { "from": "human", "value": "It was like we had been living in this static bubble of joy, but it had undergone a subspace field collapse, and now everything was covered in a melancholy residue." }, { "from": "system", "value": "Your next one should be approximately 2 sentences." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Our perfect moment had evaporated.\n\nI didn't know how to get it back." } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Mode:\nCo-writing\n\nLength:\n4 sentences\n\nStyle:\nAdib Khorram" }, { "from": "system", "value": "Produce a starting prompt please." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Around two in the morning, someone knocked on my door.\n\nI reached for my trunks and slipped them on under the covers.\n\n\"Come in?\"\n\nThe door creaked open." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Mom stood silhouetted in the hall light." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Mom?\"\n\nShe just stood there.\n\n\"Is everything okay?\"\n\n\"No,\" she said. \"I just heard from your Dayi Soheil.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "My heart thudded." }, { "from": "system", "value": "Next message should be approximately 1 sentence." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Babou passed away.\"" } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "expand on the story like Adib Khorram would" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Oma and Grandma came in to check on us, and to take away the tray of cold, untouched tea." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "They brought a fresh box of Kleenex and an extra trash bag, and kissed Laleh on the forehead, and whispered in Mom's ear, and patted my shoulder. But mostly, they left us to our grief.\n\nOnce we'd cried ourselves out—Laleh actually cried herself back to sleep—Mom kissed us each about a hundred times. She sniffed and whispered, \"I need to call Mamou.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "I stood as quietly as I could and helped Mom tuck Laleh back in." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "She brushed Laleh's hair off her forehead and kissed her one last time, and then we closed the door behind us.\n\nMom got the call started on her computer while I wheeled over a chair to sit next to her.\n\nWe waited.\n\nAnd waited." }, { "from": "human", "value": "And just when I thought Mom was going to hang up and try later—" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Hello?\"\n\nMamou's pixelated face appeared on the screen. Her voice sounded robotic and compressed, like her bandwidth was throttled, which it probably was.\n\nMom started crying again, but she sniffed and wiped her eyes. \"Hi, Maman. Chetori?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Mom and Mamou started talking in Farsi." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Normally I could halfway follow their conversations, but with Mamou sounding like she was at the other end of a broken subspace relay, and my own sniffling, I missed some stuff.\n\nEventually there was a pause, and Mamou said, \"Hi, Darioush-jan. How are you doing?\"\n\n\"Hi, Mamou,\" I said. I tried to smile for her, but my face probably just looked constipated." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"I'm okay. How are you?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"I am holding on,\" she said.\n\nMamou blinked at me and wiped her eyes, and I did the same.\n\nI wanted to tell her how sorry I was.\n\nI wanted to tell her how much I missed her." }, { "from": "human", "value": "I wanted to tell her about the hole in my heart." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "But I was helpless against her grief, and Mom's grief, and my own.\n\nI hated how powerless I was.\n\n\"I love you, Mamou,\" I said. \"I wish I was there.\"" } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "expand on the story like Adib Khorram would" }, { "from": "system", "value": "Produce a starting prompt please." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Darius? Hey.\"\n\nThere was one other Iranian at Chapel Hill High School: Javaneh Esfahani.\n\nShe was a senior, and now that we didn't eat lunch together, I barely ever saw her. She was in AP classes during the day, and busy with Associated Student Body after school." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Javaneh wore a sleek black dress with a red blouse over it and a dark red headscarf." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "She had on new glasses too, cat-eye ones with green highlights on the frames.\n\n\"Oh. Hey.\"\n\n\"You look like you could use a hug.\"\n\n\"I guess so.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Javaneh snorted and pulled me in." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "I couldn't remember ever hugging her before. She felt warm and comfortable, like your blankets when you first wake up in those late fall days before you turn the heat on, and you can't imagine ever getting out of bed because you know the floors are going to be cold.\n\n\"How're you doing?\"\n\n\"Okay. Trying to keep it together for my mom.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "She nodded. \"When my grandmother passed away, my dad had a really hard time too.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"That sucks.\"\n\n\"Yeah. I still miss her sometimes.\"\n\nI sniffed. Javaneh pulled a couple Kleenexes out of her huge black purse.\n\nShe was still in high school, but she already had the voluminous purse of a True Persian Woman, the kind that opened into an alternate dimension." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Thanks.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Sure.\" She looked behind me. \"I think someone is here for you.\"\n\n\"Oh?\" I turned to find Landon standing in the doorway. He was dressed all the way up, in a dark suit with a white shirt and gray tie." }, { "from": "human", "value": "He looked impeccable." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Hi.\"\n\n\"Hi,\" he said, and wrapped me in a hug. I melted into him.\n\nWe didn't kiss, though." }, { "from": "human", "value": "I think maybe he was trying to figure out what the rules were, surrounded by a bunch of Iranian strangers." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Maybe he was.\n\nMaybe I was too.\n\nWhen we pulled apart, I said, \"Javaneh, this is my boyfriend. Landon.\"\n\nJavaneh beamed and offered her hand." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Javaneh Esfahani. I go to school with Darius.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Landon's shoulders relaxed as he took her hand. \"Nice to meet you.\"\n\n\"Same.\" Javaneh glanced toward the big room, and her eyes bugged out for a second. \"Oh, no. My parents are trying to help.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Landon blinked. \"Is that bad?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"My parents are, like, Olympic-level taarofers.\"\n\n\"Oh no,\" I agreed.\n\nLandon looked between us. Despite my best attempts to explain taarof—the complex set of Social Cues that governed all interpersonal relations between Iranians—he had yet to grasp it fully." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Wish me luck.\" Javaneh squeezed my arm and hurried out to stop her parents from taking over the entire memorial." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Landon held my hands and looked me up and down.\n\n\"You got rid of your nails,\" he said.\n\nGrandma helped me take off the polish. Turquoise nails felt too happy for a memorial." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Too gay." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "I would never get to tell Babou I was gay.\n\nI hated my own cowardice.\n\n\"Didn't seem like the right occasion.\"\n\n\"You still look nice.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "He played with a few locks of hair that had fallen over my forehead." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Are you doing okay? Really?\"\n\n\"I'm okay.\"\n\nLandon fussed with my shoulder seams.\n\nAnd I had this feeling, like I was annoyed with him for some reason." } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Let's engage in a collaborative writing exercise. I'll provide a starting point, and You'll continue with four sentences in the style of Adib Khorram." }, { "from": "system", "value": "Produce a starting prompt please." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Even with finishing up at the PPCC—and dropping Landon off—we still made it home first.\n\nI put the kettle on, set to 165 degrees so I could make some Dragonwell, and got changed out of my Persian Casual clothes.\n\nI still felt kind of weird and tingly where Landon's hand had been on my inner thigh, perilously close to my penis.\n\nThe garage door rumbled beneath my feet." }, { "from": "human", "value": "I shook my head and pulled on some clean underwear and a pair of joggers." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "I had to wait a minute before going downstairs.\n\nMom was at the door, holding it open for Dad. She murmured something to him, and he laughed and whispered something into her ear, and then he saw me.\n\n\"There he is,\" he said, and pulled me into a Level Twelve Hug." }, { "from": "human", "value": "I couldn't remember the last time Dad hugged me so tight or for so long." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "His beard rubbed against my cheeks. It had gone past the scratchy phase and into the coarse phase, where it wasn't super soft but it wasn't bothersome anymore.\n\nI had never seen my father with a real beard before. It was darker than his sandy blond hair, almost a light brown, and it was patchy around the corners of his mouth." }, { "from": "human", "value": "I felt something wet against the side of my cheeks too, but I didn't say anything about that." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "I didn't know how.\n\nSo I said, \"I'm glad you're home,\" and squeezed him back as hard as I could, until he finally seemed to have enough. He patted my back, then rested his hand on the nape of my neck and pulled me in to kiss my forehead.\n\n\"I'm sorry I'm late.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"It's okay. I'm glad you're home.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "I let Mom and Dad through, and Laleh followed, bringing Dad up to speed on everything he'd missed—including, according to her, \"Miss Hawn doing Mike Progressions.\"\n\nDad looked from Mom to me.\n\n\"Microaggressions,\" I whispered, and slipped out to grab Dad's suitcase.\n\nI popped the trunk and fought the big suitcase, which kept catching on the rubber lip of the trunk." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Usually Dad packed his suitcase perfectly flat, but this time it was lumpy and awkward, like he'd balled up everything and tossed it in, rather than folding or rolling his clothes into neat rows." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "I set the unwieldy suitcase on its wheels and pulled out his smaller one, then grabbed his leather Kellner & Newton messenger bag from the passenger-side footwell.\n\n\"You hungry?\" Mom asked. \"We have some kabob left.\"\n\n\"Some\" kabob was an understatement." }, { "from": "human", "value": "We had enough leftovers to feed the entire Chapel Hill High School varsity men's soccer team." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Here. Sit.\" Mom forced Dad into his seat at the table. Laleh clambered into the seat next to him and kept up her tales about school.\n\nThe kettle was ready, so I filled the teapot and hauled the suitcase upstairs.\n\nMom followed me." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Thank you, sweetie,\" she said." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"No problem.\"\n\n\"You can leave it there. I'll sort out the laundry.\"\n\n\"Okay.\"\n\nI laid the suitcase in the corner by the closet." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Mom unzipped it and started pulling out clothes." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Sure enough, they were all jumbled up, and mixed in with Dad's shoes, which weren't even in the drawstring cloth pouches he normally used.\n\nMom let out a sigh so quiet I might have imagined it.\n\nI thought about her living through Stephen Kellner's depressive episodes before.\n\nI thought about her living through mine." } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Task: Cooperative storytelling\nMy role: Provide a brief opening\nYour role: Expand upon my opening with four sentences, emulating the writing style of Adib Khorram." }, { "from": "human", "value": "While Dad ate his kabob, Grandma and Oma came downstairs." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "They had changed out of their Persian Casual clothes too, into comfy sweatpants, though Oma still had her hair up.\n\n\"Don't get up,\" Grandma said, but Dad did anyway. He gave them each a kiss on the cheek.\n\n\"You need a shave,\" Oma said." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Dad just shrugged and went back to his dinner." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Everyone was quiet for a second, the kind of quiet you could snap like a twig.\n\nI said, \"How was California?\"\n\n\"Busy,\" Dad said.\n\n\"When do you have to go back?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "He sighed. \"Monday.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"At least it's warm there,\" Grandma said.\n\nOma nodded but didn't add anything. She was studying Dad with pursed lips.\n\nThe silence came back." }, { "from": "human", "value": "That's the thing about silences." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Sometimes they keep coming back.\n\n\"Anyone else want tea?\"\n\n\"Sure.\" Oma glanced at Grandma and then back at Dad. \"You sure you're doing okay, Stephen?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"I'm sure.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"All right.\"\n\nGrandma rested her hand on Dad's shoulder. \"You look tired.\"\n\n\"Really. I'm fine, Mom.\" Dad smiled, but it didn't reach his eyes." }, { "from": "human", "value": "What was happening?" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "There was some shrouded tension lurking in the kitchen, but I couldn't figure out why, so I did what I always did and poured some tea.\n\n\"What's this?\"\n\n\"Dragonwell.\" I handed Dad the mesh strainer of steeped leaves so he could smell. \"Pan-roasted green tea. From China.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Dad gave the leaves a long sniff. \"It smells good.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Yeah.\"\n\n\"Does it have much caffeine?\"\n\n\"Not really.\"\n\n\"Hmm. Better make something stronger next, so we can stay awake for Star Trek.\"" } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Continue with the same vibes as Adib Khorram" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Was it something I did?\" Landon asked." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"No.\"\n\n\"Something someone else did?\"\n\n\"No. I promise.\" I pulled my bag out of my cubby. \"It's me. I can't do this anymore.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Why?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"It's hard to explain.\"\n\nLandon studied his feet. I reached for his hand, rubbed my thumb over the top of it in little circles.\n\nFinally he asked, \"Are you mad at me?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Of course not.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Okay.\"\n\nI kissed him on the nose. He giggled.\n\n\"Hey.\"\n\n\"Hey what?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"I got our tickets for homecoming today.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Landon's whole face softened. \"You did?\"\n\n\"Yeah.\"\n\n\"What're you going to wear? Should we match?\"\n\n\"Mom's taking me shopping this weekend.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"What's your favorite color?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Oh.\" I don't know why it struck me so much, Landon asking me my favorite color. \"Blue.\"\n\n\"Easy enough.\"\n\n\"Easier than orange, at least.\" That was Landon's favorite." }, { "from": "human", "value": "He smirked. \"That would definitely get us noticed. But I've got a gray suit that still fits.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Landon Edwards looked perfect in gray.\n\nIt brought out his beautiful eyes.\n\n\"What about . . . after?\" he asked.\n\n\"After?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Yeah. We could go somewhere.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Um.\"\n\n\"I know it's cliché, but. Well.\" His smirk slowly faded, and a blush crept up from his jawline to his cheeks. \"Sometimes couples will, you know. Get together. After a dance.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "His face was nearly glowing." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Oh,\" I said.\n\nMy stomach did a little flip.\n\nI didn't know what to say.\n\nAnd I got this really ugly feeling." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Like Landon only wanted sex from me." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "I knew that wasn't fair. I knew he really cared about me. But I couldn't help it.\n\nThat's normal." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Right?" }, { "from": "system", "value": "Your next one should be approximately two sentences." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Think about it,\" Landon said, and kissed me on the shoulder. \"Okay?\"\n\n\"Okay.\"" } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Expand the story by adding 4 sentences." }, { "from": "system", "value": "Produce a starting prompt please." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Mr. Edwards dropped Landon off about an hour before dinner.\n\nI was still getting dressed when he knocked on my door.\n\n\"Hey,\" I squeaked.\n\n\"Hey.\" He looked amazing: His suit must've been made just for him, the way it tapered around his slim waist and nice legs." }, { "from": "human", "value": "I sucked in my stomach as soon as I saw him." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "His hair was parted to the side, super formal, except for this one lock that fell into his forehead. His smile was perfect.\n\n\"Wow,\" he said. He looked me up and down, with this soft smile. \"You look beautiful.\"\n\nMy ears burned." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"It's not too . . . um . . .\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"It's perfect.\" He nodded at my tie. \"Having trouble?\"\n\n\"Usually my dad helps me,\" I admitted.\n\nHe slipped his own tie off, a deep blue one with thin orange stripes: It was a clip-on.\n\n\"Can't help you there.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"I'll get it.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He stepped closer to me and rested his hands on my chest. I let go of my tie and leaned down to kiss him.\n\n\"Hey,\" I said.\n\nHis hands slid down to my waist." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"You smell nice.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Thanks.\" I'd borrowed some of Dad's cologne, a woodsy one—juniper and sage—that he always wore in the fall. \"So do you.\"\n\nHe smelled like honeysuckle and citrus peel.\n\n\"Come on. Tie your tie. We don't wanna miss dinner.\"\n\n\"I'll make sure not to order onions this time.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Good. I've got plans for us.\"" }, { "from": "system", "value": "Next message should be approximately 2 sentences." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "I gulped.\n\n\"Okay.\"" } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Mode:\nCo-writing\n\nLength:\nfour sentences\n\nStyle:\nAdib Khorram" }, { "from": "system", "value": "Produce a starting prompt please." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Like always, Coach Bentley summoned us to circle up before the game. I sandwiched myself between Diego and Bruno, far away from Chip, who was over by Gabe and Jaden like usual. Jaden gave me a look, but I pretended not to notice.\n\nI also pretended not to notice Chip trying to catch my eye." }, { "from": "human", "value": "And I definitely did not notice that his hair, usually pristine even after a long school day, was a complete and utter mess." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Or the way the corners of his mouth drooped, almost into a frown, instead of his usual pre-game grin.\n\nAs we went around, I couldn't come up with anything to say. I totally blanked.\n\nBruno said, \"At homecoming, Christian gave me some gum when I was nervous about my breath not smelling fresh. Thanks, Christian. Heather thanks you too.\"\n\nEveryone chuckled at that, but I just felt a kind of twist in my gut." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Uh.\" It was my turn." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"I'm blanking. Sorry. Um.\"\n\nI felt the weight of everyone's eyes on me.\n\n\"I had kind of a crappy weekend. But I'm glad for tonight's game, and the chance to go do something. So, thanks for tonight, everyone.\"\n\nSome of the guys nodded, but others looked at me kind of curiously, or turned to their neighbors like they wanted to gossip." }, { "from": "human", "value": "But Coach Bentley said, \"Glad we can be here for you, Darius,\" and the whispers stopped." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Diego thanked me, of all people, for lending him a pair of socks last week, which I had completely forgotten about. \"Sure thing.\"\n\nAnd on we went.\n\nWhen we got to Chip, he said, \"Darius told me something I didn't want to hear. But I know I needed to. So, thanks.\"\n\nI looked up at that, but Chip had his eyes squeezed shut, like he was afraid of what was going to happen." } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Hey can you write like Adib Khorram and use whatever i write as a jumping off point?" }, { "from": "human", "value": "After Star Trek, we ate dinner and then Dad turned in early." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "I finished up my homework and got ready for bed.\n\nI was feeling so weird and sad, I didn't even go number three before tucking myself in.\n\nI was almost asleep when my computer rang.\n\nThere were only two people who ever called me." }, { "from": "human", "value": "I leaped out of bed, pulled my underwear and a shirt on, and went to my desk." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Sure enough, Sohrab's avatar—a picture of the two of us, the same one I had framed on the wall next to my bed—was bouncing up and down.\n\nI dropped into my chair and hit accept.\n\nThere was that weird moment of feedback, and my screen went white for a second. And then there he was, squinty smile and all." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Hello, Darioush!\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Hey Sohrab,\" I said.\n\nI almost wanted to cry.\n\nAlmost.\n\nI was so happy to see him, I thought my cheeks might lock into their smile and I would have to live the rest of my life with lockjaw." }, { "from": "human", "value": "I would have been okay with that." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"I didn't know where you were.\"\n\n\"I know. I'm sorry. I couldn't tell you before we left.\"\n\n\"Left? For where?\"\n\nSohrab leaned back, and for the first time I noticed he wasn't in his room." }, { "from": "human", "value": "The walls were white and blank." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Where are you? Are you okay?\"\n\n\"I'm in Hakkâri, Darioush. Turkey.\"\n\n\"What?\"\n\n\"Maman and I left. We are going to try and get asylum.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Asylum?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "My head spun.\n\n\"You're becoming refugees?\"\n\n\"Yeah. Lots of Bahá'ís do it.\"\n\n\"Oh my god,\" I said." }, { "from": "human", "value": "My best friend was a refugee." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"I was so worried about you. I thought something bad had happened.\"\n\nDid this count as something bad happening?\n\nWhat did this mean for Sohrab? For his mom?\n\n\"Last time we talked you told me you thought you might be depressed. And then you were just gone. And no one would tell me anything. I thought . . .\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Sohrab's face fell." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"I wouldn't do that, Darioush.\"\n\n\"Sometimes people can't help it.\"\n\nHe let out a deep breath.\n\n\"I'm okay, Darioush. I promise. I'm sorry. We had to keep it quiet.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Why?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"It's dangerous. And complicated. You remember my khaleh got asylum?\"\n\n\"The one in Toronto?\"\n\nHe nodded.\n\n\"Is that where you're going? Toronto?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"I don't know. Maybe.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "I felt this little burst of happiness.\n\nSohrab, in Toronto?\n\nCompared to Iran, that was practically next door.\n\n\"Don't cry, Darioush.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"I was scared. I'm sorry.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"No, I'm sorry. I wish I didn't have to keep it secret. But Maman and I are okay. We're going to be fine.\"\n\nI nodded and sniffed.\n\n\"I missed you,\" he said.\n\n\"I missed you too.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"And I heard . . . about Babou.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "I nodded.\n\n\"I'm sorry, Darioush.\"\n\n\"I'm sorry too. I know you loved him.\"\n\nIn a way, Babou had been like Sohrab's grandfather too." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Maybe even more than he had been mine." }, { "from": "system", "value": "Now write approximately five sentences." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "I wished I were there with him.\n\nI wished I could hug him and cry with him and let him tell me all the little things I never got to know about Babou. Things he got to see, growing up next door to Ardeshir Bahrami.\n\nBut at least I could see him on the screen.\n\nWe had a lot of catching up to do." } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Expand the story by adding four sentences." }, { "from": "human", "value": "I helped Grandma with her and Oma's laundry, folding pants and sweatshirts and matching socks, while she dealt with their \"unmentionables.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Seriously.\n\nShe said, \"I'll take care of our unmentionables,\" like that was a thing people really called their underwear and bras.\n\nMaybe Grandma called them \"brassieres.\"\n\nI grinned." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Glad to see us go?\" Grandma asked." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"No. Just thinking something funny.\"\n\nShe studied me, her eyebrow arched.\n\n\"I think it's for the best, you know. I think your dad is better off when he doesn't see us so much.\"\n\n\"Why do you say that?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Grandma did this weird flip-fold thing that got her underwear into a tiny triangle." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"He won't say it, but I think being around us depresses him.\"\n\n\"I don't think that's true,\" I said, even though I was pretty sure it was.\n\n\"You don't have to lie, Darius.\" Grandma grimaced. \"I think it was hard for him, going through Oma's transition. Having to rearrange his whole life.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"I think sometimes he's just depressed because that's how the disease works. It doesn't need a reason. Least of all Oma's transition. Isn't she happier now?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"So much happier.\"\n\n\"Then that's good. For Dad too.\"\n\n\"Hm.\"\n\nGrandma dropped her last unmentionable into the laundry basket and started to lift it." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"I can get that.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "She swatted me away and lifted it. But then she looked at me and put it back down.\n\n\"It wasn't easy, you know. Going through it all. I think it was harder on me than on your dad.\"\n\n\"Why?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Your dad and I both had to let go of our picture of who Oma was, and make a whole new one. But I also had to make a new picture of myself. I'd spent my life thinking I was a straight woman. But I was still in love with Oma. So what did that make me? A lesbian? Bisexual? Queer?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Oh.\"\n\n\"But you know what? Even though it was hard, we're closer now than ever. When you go through something like that, you come out stronger.\" She lifted her basket again. \"I'm sorry about Landon. Breakups are hard.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "It still surprised me to hear her say that." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Like sometimes I forgot it had happened. Like I could go hours without remembering the hole in my heart where Landon's smile used to live.\n\n\"Yeah.\"\n\n\"But you're going to be okay. You know that, don't you?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Maybe.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Grandma took my shoulders in her hands.\n\n\"You are.\" She smiled at me. An actual smile.\n\n\"I'm glad we got to be here, with you.\"\n\n\"Me too.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Let us know about Pride. Maybe we can go together. If the weather is nice.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Really?\"\n\n\"We'll see.\"\n\nIt was the softest of maybes.\n\nBut it felt like something more." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Like maybe Grandma had left the door between us open a crack." }, { "from": "system", "value": "Your next one should be approximately one sentence." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "It felt like love." } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Continue with the same vibes as Niall Teasdale" }, { "from": "human", "value": "'I wonder what it's like?'" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Lisa looked up at Leeanne, her current cocktail glass poised at her lips. Pat was up the bar serving. 'What what's like?' Lisa asked.\n\n'Well… Being a vampire, I guess." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Drinking blood. Living, potentially, forever." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The enhanced senses, for some of them. I was almost converted and that was really weird. Frightening, but kind of comfortable.'\n\n'That's just the endorphins kicking in." }, { "from": "human", "value": "You'd just have been scared otherwise.'" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "'Yeah… But most of them have to go into it voluntarily. What's it like for them? Are you really the same person before and after? I mean, they all seem to say that you change over time, but does some of that happen immediately?'" }, { "from": "human", "value": "'Well, we could ask Juliana." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "She's more likely to remember both sides. That said, she doesn't seem that different and she maybe has more reason to have changed.'\n\n'True.'\n\nLisa frowned a little at her friend." }, { "from": "human", "value": "'You sound like you'd kind of like to find out in person.'" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "'What? No! No, I don't… Okay, so I could see a lot of upsides to it, eventually. Think of all the time you'd have to learn stuff. But…'\n\n'You have to consider what you'd lose,' Pat said, appearing beside them as though through magic." }, { "from": "human", "value": "'Why do you think Winthrop won't do it?" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He's worried, with good reason, that he would lose his imagination and, with it, his ability to do what he does. That's one of the reasons anyway.'\n\n'I hadn't thought of it like that,' Leeanne admitted.\n\n'You'd be amazed at how many willing converts never considered that aspect of things when they agreed to change.'" }, { "from": "human", "value": "'No,' Leeanne replied. 'I don't think I'd be surprised at all.'" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "21st February.\n\nLeeanne turned onto her back and stared up at the ceiling of Pat's spare room. It was very dark thanks to blackout curtains, which Leeanne figured were an essential part of a vampire's life, especially one who worked until the early hours and therefore slept in. There was, therefore, little to be seen of the ceiling, or of any other distraction." }, { "from": "human", "value": "And she needed the distraction to take her mind off the sounds." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Within an acceptable margin of error, Leeanne was fairly sure the sounds were coming primarily from Lisa. They were not intelligible sounds, but they spoke volumes. Whenever Leeanne thought she might be drifting off, Lisa would squeak, or moan, or something to yank her back into reality. Pat seemed to like drawing out her torments, but the frequency and volume of the sounds was growing which at least meant they might stop soon." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Leeanne considered calling Mike." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "She had never been the kind of girl who engaged in phone sex. Then again, she had never been the kind of girl who got up to half the things she had been getting up to recently. Mike had told her Dione thought it was quite natural: Leeanne's brush with near-death, or near-undeath, had sparked a strong desire for life. Leeanne could understand the psychological underpinning and thought Dione was probably right, but that was not all of it." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Ever since discovering that vampires existed, that there was a world out there she had thought she had a good handle on and did not, Leeanne had felt like someone had let her out of a straightjacket." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "She reached for her phone, and then thought better of it. It was very late and Mike might well be in bed. Which was not an issue, but she did not want to wake him.\n\n'Oh… G-God!' Lisa's voice came through the wall, quite obvious this time." }, { "from": "human", "value": "'Let me… Please let me…'" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Whatever Pat may have replied was lost to the masonry, but Lisa let out a long moan, the pitch rising at the end. Biting her lip, Leeanne slid a hand down between her thighs and found herself embarrassingly aroused. The slightest touch of her finger sent a shudder through her body.\n\n'Oh…' Lisa's voice again. 'Oh… Oh… Oh!'" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Leeanne began to work her fingers in earnest, and was again embarrassed at how quickly she felt the tension rising through her body." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Had listening to her friends having sex really been that much of a turn-on?\n\n'Oh… Oh God! Oh…'\n\nClamping her eyes and her mouth shut, Leeanne strummed fingers over her clitoris, increasing the pace as Lisa approached her climax.\n\n'Oh… Oh… Oh, oh, oh. Yes!'" }, { "from": "human", "value": "The last word, and anything else which might have been heard, was lost in the light show of Leeanne's own orgasm." }, { "from": "system", "value": "Your next one should be approximately 1 sentence." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "It was the most embarrassing thing she had ever done on her own, and she did not care." } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Expand the story by adding 4 sentences." }, { "from": "system", "value": "Produce a starting prompt please." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "'So… What does it do?' Leeanne asked, looking at the box with the blinking lights which was resting on the coffee table in the lounge.\n\n'It's an electromagnetic disturbance detector,' Mike replied. 'It'll pick up EM variations anywhere within about a hundred yards and it records them for later analysis." }, { "from": "human", "value": "SCU uses them when they get asked to look into hauntings.'" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "'This place isn't old enough to have ghosts.'\n\n'Actually, Winthrop says the age of a building has nothing to do with it. A lot of newer buildings develop a reputation for haunting due to construction faults, weird geological conditions that go undetected, all sorts of odd reasons. That thing cracked one case where a new-build apartment block had these strange electrical problems." }, { "from": "human", "value": "TVs with weird reception problems, lights flickered for no reason." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Turned out one of the residents was doing some weird experiments with high-powered radio equipment. Unlicensed.'\n\n'Oh,' Leeanne said, and she looked around the room, frowning.\n\n'But we're looking for a different kind of spook. Dione thinks someone governmental might be interested in the Valentine Killer case." }, { "from": "human", "value": "That little box will detect radio bugs." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Even the burst transmission types.'\n\n'We're being bugged?!'\n\n'Well, probably not, but we're being cautious. No mentioning the v-word in unsecured locations.'" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Leeanne opened her mouth to protest the very idea of someone bugging her home, and then closed it again." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "She was in on one of the biggest secrets in the world and she knew there were people out there who wanted to know more about it. 'So, no mentioning Voldemort?' Widening her eyes, she gasped and put her hand in front of her mouth.\n\n'Now you've done it,' Mike said, trying not to grin." }, { "from": "human", "value": "'Do you think he heard?'" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "'Well, if you wake up a frog or something… You know how hard it is to find a prince willing to kiss one.'\n\n'I know… I should be punished. Thoroughly.'\n\nMike raised an eyebrow. 'I thought you were on call tonight?'" }, { "from": "human", "value": "'Yeah, but I just said \"Voldemort\" out loud." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "I believe in living dangerously.'\n\n1st March.\n\nMike put a carton of milk and a loaf of bread down on the counter of Eddy Ross's grocery store and Delia shook her head, slowly. 'You shouldn't be eating this plastic bread crap,' she said." }, { "from": "human", "value": "'It's unhealthy. Seriously, white and pre-sliced?'" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "She was a pretty sort of girl, looked both quite young and the kind of person who might be into health food, but her idea of 'health food' probably involved drinking blood from bodybuilders.\n\n'It makes good toast,' Mike replied defensively.\n\n'That's about all it's good for. I'm amazed Leeanne lets you consume the stuff.'" }, { "from": "human", "value": "'Doctors are amazing at not heeding their own advice." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Uh, is there a guy hanging about outside? White T-shirt under a leather jacket. Denim jeans and running shoes.'\n\nDelia glanced toward the door." }, { "from": "human", "value": "'Hang on…' Leaning back, she looked under the counter and then reached down and Mike heard a click as she fiddled with something." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "'Yeah, there he is. He's standing across the street about a hundred yards down. We've got a few cameras set up to watch the street, just in case.'\n\n'Useful.' Mike counted out money as he considered." }, { "from": "human", "value": "'You got a back door in this place?'" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "'Want to lose him?' Delia asked, grinning. 'What is he?'\n\n'Not sure. FBI or CIA, probably.'\n\n'Naughty. The spooks aren't supposed to get involved in domestic activities. Through the storeroom." } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "expand on the story like Niall Teasdale would" }, { "from": "human", "value": "'Of course,' Mary said, 'the sign was just icing and petty revenge." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "They left because they knew they'd been blown.'\n\n'And in something of a hurry,' Dione said. She had just returned from checking the apartment they had been using with a couple of burglary detectives from the precinct. 'I left the forensics to the regular police, but they definitely arranged for the owner to be out of town so they could use the place, and they probably meant to do a better job of cleaning up after themselves.'" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Mike frowned. 'Doesn't that imply they've had plans to use that place to watch us prior to Evan coming here?" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "I mean, wouldn't it take time to set up something like that?'\n\n'It's the CIA, they have resources. However, I wouldn't be surprised if they had plans in place to set up a surveillance operation if they needed to. But… These aren't regular CIA we're dealing with." }, { "from": "human", "value": "The CIA doesn't go around breaking the law if they can avoid it." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "They might go by the letter when the spirit might have said something different, but they don't generally snap it like a twig.'\n\n'I don't think they are. They have that provision for \"protecting assets.\" If Evan is, or was, a CIA operative, then this would be legal under those regulations." }, { "from": "human", "value": "A little dubious, maybe, but I'm sure they could wriggle out of it.'" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "'Further evidence that he's CIA-trained. I suspect they'll withdraw the more overt surveillance now. As Mary said, they know they've been made.'\n\n'But they'll still have electronic methods of keeping tabs on us,' Mary said." }, { "from": "human", "value": "'We still need to be careful.'" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "'Meanwhile, Evan is out there winding himself up for the next kill. Mike, we're going to start running through that list of potential hideouts.'\n\n'I have eighteen in Manhattan alone,' Mary said.\n\n'Then we had better get started.'" }, { "from": "human", "value": "[ Interlude ]" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "New York, NY, 5th March 2015.\n\nConnie really had her strut on today. It was bright outside, warm for early in March, and Mama's Genuine Ice Cream Parlour was doing quite brisk business. That all contributed to Connie's good mood, which lifted her chin and straightened her back." }, { "from": "human", "value": "The crazy high-heeled pumps she had to wear for work did not bother her, nor did the silly 50s-style farm girl outfit, or the pigtails, or the excessive make-up." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Everything was right with the world and Connie's attitude seemed to rub off on the customers she served: they went away happier than when they came.\n\nMama's Genuine Ice Cream Parlour was no longer run by Mama Brunetti. She had died, happily in her sleep at the age of ninety-three, and passed her shop on to her son, Orlando. The place had been doing badly for a few years, but Orlando had an idea." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Capitalising on the fact that his mother had never modernised, Orlando had redecorated, shined up the chrome, and got himself an all-female staff who he dressed up in costumes out of 1950s pin-up pictures." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Somehow, the place still managed a sort of family feel to it, maybe because nostalgia had a way of dulling the misogyny, but fathers seemed far more keen on bringing their kids in for ice cream now and business had picked up.\n\nConnie had been there for five years now. She liked it because she got to meet all sorts of people, and people liked Connie. Orlando, who always stayed back of shop when he could because there was no way he was 'Mama,' had tried to pick Connie up on more than one occasion." }, { "from": "human", "value": "She had told him no every time, but he had never got mad about it." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "It was not like she seemed to date much at all, which was kind of odd considering she had looks. Connie was just a pretty, really likeable sort of girl who also liked time to herself. And she was a real asset to the shop.\n\nThe bell over the door jingled and Connie glanced around to see who had walked in." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Her mood shifted toward dark almost immediately, but it was not until she got closer and caught the man's scent that she knew for sure." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He was tall, moderately good-looking, with blonde hair and piercing blue eyes, and he was a vampire. A carpathian who was, in Connie's estimations, not good news. Still, he was a customer since he had taken a seat at one of the small tables, so he would be treated like one.\n\n'Welcome to Mama's Genuine Ice Cream Parlour." }, { "from": "human", "value": "What can I get you?'" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Connie had perfected smiling without showing her own fangs quite a while ago. Getting it just right for the perky attitude required at Mama's had been more difficult, but she had mastered it.\n\nThe man looked her up and down, taking extra time over long legs made longer by the heels on her white, open-toe pumps. 'A scoop,' he said. 'Tutti frutti.'" }, { "from": "human", "value": "'Anything to drink?'" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "'No, the ice cream will be fine.'\n\n'I'll have that for you in a moment, sir.' Connie spun on her heels and started for the counter. She could feel the man's eyes on her behind as she walked away, but that was just about normal." }, { "from": "human", "value": "What was not normal was that, when Connie turned around from giving the order to the girl behind the counter, she heard the bell ring again." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Mr Tutti Frutti had, apparently, decided not to wait for his ice cream.\n\n'Cancel that order. He's gone.'\n\nThe eyes of several of the other girls looked around to the door. 'That's weird,' one of them offered." }, { "from": "human", "value": "'Your customers usually stick around for seconds.'" }, { "from": "system", "value": "Your next one should be approximately one sentence." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Connie shrugged. 'Some people just don't appreciate good ice cream.'" } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Hey can you write like Niall Teasdale and use whatever i write as a jumping off point?" }, { "from": "human", "value": "'You prayed for Sandra Wallow,' Dione said as they were all riding back to New York in the van. 'That's nice.'" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "'Well, I…' Juliana trailed off, looking a little uncomfortable.\n\n'Worried your God isn't listening?'\n\nRather than answer, Juliana asked, 'Are you religious at all?' Or maybe that was an answer of sorts." }, { "from": "human", "value": "'Yes, though not perhaps in a way you would call religion." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Back in the day, I was a priestess of Aphrodite and I still keep the faith. I suppose you would call me a pagan.'\n\n'Oh… I suppose I would. Except I'm not even sure what that really means." }, { "from": "human", "value": "I, uh, guess I figured you'd be an atheist.'" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "'Perhaps I am. I'm not sure I really believe in anything. After all this time, I couldn't say that any religion has really… come up with any answers. Religions, all of them, no exception, are constructs of the human mind.'\n\n'Are you saying no vampire has ever played the god card and started a religion?' Mike asked." }, { "from": "human", "value": "'Oh, well… Not in recorded history." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "A couple of cults, yes, but never a full-on religion. That's not the point, however. Religions are made by people. Even if some powerful being did actually come down and start them, and I've no evidence to call it either way, the religion was made by the people who saw that event." }, { "from": "human", "value": "If Jesus existed and was the Son of God, he told his stories and gave his sermons, but the religion which resulted really began when no one who ever heard him was left alive to tell the tale." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "People bring their own prejudices and needs to the table. I think that if people could just learn not to be assholes to each other, they wouldn't need religions to tell them how they should behave.'\n\n'The Bill and Ted philosophy,' Mike said, grinning.\n\n'Hated that movie. Neither Socrates nor Jeanne were anything like that.'" }, { "from": "human", "value": "'Uh… Jeanne.'" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "'The English pronounced it Joan.'\n\n'You met Joan of Arc?!' Juliana squeaked. It was probably a good thing that Dione was driving.\n\n'She had been captured by the Burgundians and transferred to the custody of the English." }, { "from": "human", "value": "The Summus Concilium requested that I look in on her." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "There were some suspicions that she might be a vampire, possibly a very old but unknown one. So, I walked into where she was being held in Rouen and had a chat. She was a bright girl, very religious, obviously. Also not a vampire and I had to let her go unaided." }, { "from": "human", "value": "I was rather displeased about what happened to her, but we are generally disinclined to mess with that level of politics.'" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "'But… You met Joan of Arc!'\n\nDione smirked. 'I slept with Socrates, Plato, and Xenophon, but I don't suppose that's quite as exciting.' Juliana made a little strangled squeaking sound. 'Oh, not at the same time…'" }, { "from": "human", "value": "New York, NY." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "'Very well,' Winthrop said, shuffling notes. 'Let us begin with recent events. I shall not list the range of insults and injuries to Miss Wallow. If you have some desire to read them, they will be in my final report." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Suffice to say that her death was undignified, unnecessary, and abhorrent.'" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "'We got that impression at the scene,' Dione said. They were in Winthrop's lab, everyone except Mary, who was not in the office.\n\n'Quite. Andrew Quarry was ended by decapitation. A bladed, heavy weapon." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Likely a fire axe wielded by a relatively incompetent user." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "It took at least two blows to sever the spine. Michael could have done better, I have no doubt, without a vampire's enhanced strength. Quarry was, however, unconscious at the time since his heart had been pierced by a large metal spike which was driven through his chest and into the wall behind him. It is something of a shame that these… people did not perform the same courtesy on Miss Wallow; however, their… zeal in mistreating her has given me good viral samples." }, { "from": "human", "value": "I've identified three carpathians and one nubian." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Slight variations in the virus genome allow me to give numbers, if not any clues to the individuals.'\n\n'It's more information than we had.'\n\n'Yes… I suppose it is.'\n\n'Won't she convert?' Juliana asked." }, { "from": "human", "value": "'I was killed by a vampire and I converted.'" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "'You were drained and abandoned, dear girl,' Winthrop said, smiling. 'Unfortunate and not what any of us would have wished, but here we are. Miss Wallow was violently abused by four vampires. Her spine was severed in three places before they finished with her." }, { "from": "human", "value": "She was actually dead when they broke her neck to be sure." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The virus can do a lot, but it has limits.'\n\n'Oh.'\n\n'I'm not sure that I've given you much to find the men who did it, Dione, but on to another, rather more pleasant, nest of ghouls. Uh, having said that, the ones you pulled out of the sewer brought some rather unsettling information with them.'" }, { "from": "human", "value": "'Not sure how you can describe them as more pleasant,' Mike commented." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "'Ghouls, Michael, do what they do because it is all they know to do. They are little more than animals as a result of biology. The men who killed Mister Quarry and Miss Wallow descended to animal behaviour of their own volition.'\n\n'Okay. Good point.'" }, { "from": "human", "value": "'However, these ghouls were made into ghouls, and not traditional ghouls either.'" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Mike frowned. 'Dione is going to look stoically at you and wait for you to explain, but I need to say \"huh?\" at this point.'\n\n'I sequenced the active virus in the ghouls and it matches no other minor substrain of ghoul or vampire virus. It shows signs of genetic tampering.'\n\n'Someone altered the ghoul virus and deliberately infected people with it?'" }, { "from": "human", "value": "'The latter is conjecture, but it seems likely." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The results were… interesting. The changes stopped the normal fruiting process which produces spores. That section of gene coding was simply deleted. However, I believe that an unwanted side effect of that was a… destabilisation of the resulting ghoul." }, { "from": "human", "value": "If you had not ended them, they would have done so naturally, probably in less than a month." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "There were early signs of systemic organ failure in all of them.'\n\n'And you're quite sure that this is not some natural mutation?' Dione asked.\n\n'For two reasons. First, it's highly unlikely. Genes are not normally cut out; they are deactivated." }, { "from": "human", "value": "And this mutation is clearly not advantageous." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "It's difficult to see how it could even happen. The second thing is the package of electronics I found embedded in the creatures' necks.'\n\nDione gave Winthrop a mild scowl. 'I think you might have started with that one.'" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Winthrop gave her a big grin." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "'Where is your sense of drama, my goddess? I'm afraid the exact nature of the gadgets will have to wait for Mary to examine one of them, but they were connected into the spine in a fairly simple manner. I suspect they caused pain under certain circumstances.'\n\n'A training mechanism,' Mike said." }, { "from": "human", "value": "'Something like those electronic collars you can get for dogs.'" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "'Quite likely,' Winthrop agreed, nodding. 'Is Mary going to be available to do that analysis soon?'\n\n'I'm not sure,' Dione replied. 'She's doing something… important which needed to be done away from the office." }, { "from": "human", "value": "She'll be back when she finds what she's looking for.'" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "'Mysterious, but very well.'\n\n'You know,' Mike said, frowning again, 'this kind of sounds like Apollo.'\n\n'That thought had not escaped me,' Winthrop agreed.\n\n'Nor me,' Dione said." }, { "from": "human", "value": "'This sounds like someone with a lot of sophisticated bioscience behind them has come up with a way of weaponising ghouls." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The short lifespan might even be an advantage. Let them loose and come back when they're dead. Apollo was a designed anti-vampire biological weapon.'\n\n'And we've got some weird CIA group in town hunting for Evan,' Mike said." } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Write four sentences sentences in the style of Niall Teasdale spawning from what the user wrote." }, { "from": "system", "value": "Produce a starting prompt please." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Trey Kott ran a small security business out of his home, a house on Farrington Street in Flushing. Dione had made a couple of calls before they headed out to question the man and it was, Mike realised, the first time they had done this kind of thing since he joined the unit.\n\n'So, uh, what's the procedure?' Mike asked. 'I mean, this isn't going to be a regular interview, is it?" }, { "from": "human", "value": "The guy's a vampire accused of killing a human." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "We aren't going to take him down to the precinct and grill him for several hours.'\n\n'No,' Dione said, 'we aren't. Back in the day, this kind of thing tended to get ugly.'\n\n'Back in the day, taking someone into the precinct could get ugly.'" }, { "from": "human", "value": "'Point taken, but vampires react to pain differently to humans." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Beating a confession out of a vampire is an exercise in taking the skin off your knuckles. With this particular crime, there's no possibility of a plea bargain. This is murder, straight and simple. There's no way Kott can justify it." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Generally, we used to get out the branding irons." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Burns hurt. Or we'd start cutting off fingers and toes, and work our way in.' Mike winced. 'I have an alternative, however, but you'll have to trust me.'\n\n'Uh, how?'\n\n'You can't be in the room when I do it.'" }, { "from": "human", "value": "'Well… Would you mind telling me why?'" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "'Sure. This is one of those things we don't tell Leeanne about and it isn't targeted. Anyone who sees me is going to be just as affected as Kott and the after effects can be… unpredictable. You could just find yourself waking up after a few seconds wondering what happened. You could develop a fixation, probably on me." }, { "from": "human", "value": "You could end up with serious personality alterations." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "I used it on Derren Norton in Los Angeles.'\n\n'And he jumped off a building.'\n\n'You see my point then.'\n\n'I see your point.'" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Mike looked up as a dark van pulled up across the street." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "It was unmarked, but the driver was wearing what looked like an NYPD uniform.\n\n'Okay,' Dione said, 'we're good to go. Remember, he may have a good idea why we're here and may not be pleased. I'd like him alive, but if he comes at you, shoot to kill.'" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Mike slipped his pistol from its holster as they walked up to the house, holding it down, behind his leg, but ready." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "There was a screen door and Dione pulled it open before knocking, hard, on the door behind it. A second or two later, a figure appeared in the corridor beyond. Apparently, Kott did not know, or could not quite see, who was knocking, because he opened the door with a vague smile on his face and then froze.\n\n'Hello, Trey,' Dione said, smiling." }, { "from": "human", "value": "'We need to have a little chat.'" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Kott was a tall, dark-skinned man, African American though he had a somewhat narrow, high-bridged nose and eyes on the paler side of brown. He did have a fair bulk of muscle on his frame and he used that now to try to slam the door in Dione's face. It slammed into her boot, bouncing back, and she was moving even before Kott had finished turning around. Her leg snaked between his and a second later, he was crashing into the table set under the staircase." }, { "from": "human", "value": "'Cuffs,' Dione said as she dropped one knee into the middle of Kott's back and grabbed his wrists." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "She was a strong woman, but it still took both of them to get the cuffs on and then manhandle Kott into the lounge. They dumped him onto an over-stuffed sofa and Mike stood over him, covering him with his pistol, while Dione sat down on the chair opposite, crossed her legs, and smiled.\n\n'What's this about?' Kott asked, going for affronted innocence.\n\n'It's a little late to be trying that defence, don't you think, Trey?'" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Dione said. 'You could save me a lot of time and effort by just coming clean and telling me who your friends were.'" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "'I have no idea what you're talking about.'\n\n'Seriously?' Mike asked. 'You make a bolt for it and then you want us to believe you aren't guilty of something?'\n\n'Trey is fairly young,' Dione said." }, { "from": "human", "value": "'What is it? Twenty-five years since your conversion?'" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "'Twenty-seven,' Kott mumbled.\n\n'Twenty-seven. He's not even old enough to have known what went on during the pogrom. He was alive back then, unaware that vampires even existed. Of course, he'll have heard stories, but he doesn't know." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Which leaves me with two theories." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "One, someone older and too stupid to know different came up with the idea to end Andrew Quarry. Two, Trey did the security work for an old, wealthy valentine with a hot supplicant, and Trey thought \"that bastard has it all and I'm gonna get me some.\"'\n\n'Does it matter?' Mike asked. 'I mean, the outcome will be the same either way.'" }, { "from": "human", "value": "'It might make the difference between a quick end and a protracted one." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Sword or bonfire, basically.'\n\n'I didn't do anything!' Kott exclaimed.\n\n'I guess it's the hard way then,' Mike said.\n\n'It seems,' Dione replied, nodding sadly." }, { "from": "human", "value": "'Would you step outside, Mike?'" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "'Sure. Just… try not to make too much mess. I'll probably have to clean it up.'\n\n'I'll try.' Dione watched as Mike left the lounge, closing the door behind him, and then she stood and took off her coat. Beneath it was a black blouse and slacks, nothing special." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Kott looked at her, pulling back as far as he could manage against the sofa." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "'What are you going to do?'\n\n'I'm going to show you what a real vampire is.'\n\nKott's eyes widened as some sort of transformation took place before them. Dione was a stunning woman normally, but now… now she was a goddess." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Faced with what he was seeing, Kott's senses submerged in a sea of ecstatic bliss and he was still smiling when his vision returned and Dione asked, 'Tell me, Trey, who went with you to help you end Andrew Quarry?'" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "15th March.\n\n'I got the names of his accomplices from Trey,' Dione said. 'All of them were transported here via the usual unmarked van.'\n\n'I looked in on them earlier,' Leo said." }, { "from": "human", "value": "He was the Princeps of New York today, sitting in his chair in the Concilium's meeting room along with his fellow Conciliarum." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "'You could have just executed them on the spot.'\n\n'That was unnecessary. They came quietly, or mostly quietly. The Concilium can pass official justice and the verdict can be publicised to deter more of the same.'\n\n'Yeah… That's probably wise." }, { "from": "human", "value": "But it means I'm actually going to have to talk to them.'" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "'Delegate,' Bella Tivoli suggested. 'I know I'd love to have a little chat with them. I'm thinking of taking up smoking again, just for the occasion.'\n\n'Leave me enough to execute, Bella,' Dione said." }, { "from": "human", "value": "'I'll try.'" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "'Thank you. We also distributed a photograph and two new artist's impressions of the Valentine Killer yesterday. His last victim was taken in a rather public manner. A number of people saw him leave with her.'\n\n'Does this mean we can expect results on that case soon?' Randall Cartwright asked." }, { "from": "human", "value": "'I'm more hopeful. There has been interference, we think from the CIA." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The ghouls we destroyed in the sewers were not natural.' Dione frowned. 'If you can call anything about ghouls natural. Frankly, I'm worried. We suspected someone assisted with the Societas incident. Apollo was not something they could have come up with on their own." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Now we have genetically altered ghouls." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Someone does not wish us to be spending as much time as we should on Evan, and we know that the CIA are hunting him.'\n\n'You really expect us to believe that the Central Intelligence Agency is working with a bunch of fools like Societas?'\n\n'I don't care what you believe, Randall. The facts suggest it, though the evidence is circumstantial." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Whatever the case, SCU should be able to devote all its resources to catching Evan now." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Unless something else is thrown at us.'\n\n'Very good,' Leo said before Cartwright could respond. 'Keep us informed. We will examine the four ghouls we have in the basement and I'll deliver our verdict as soon as we've decided.'\n\nDione nodded. 'Try not to take too long, or we could have more of them to hunt down and dispatch.'" }, { "from": "human", "value": "[ Judas ]" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "New York, NY, 17th March 2015.\n\nLisa yawned. It was a substantial and quite loud yawn which produced a raised eyebrow from Dione. 'You know,' the vampire said, 'you didn't have to get up with me.'\n\n'I'll take a nap later." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Why are you up so early anyway?'" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Dione considered a small lie, but Lisa knew what Dione's job entailed. 'Because formal executions are traditionally carried out at dawn. I have four to do, but it's the general thought that counts.'\n\n'Oh. The men who killed that supplicant in the Hamptons?'" }, { "from": "human", "value": "'The Concilium ruled on it yesterday.'" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "'I'm opposed to the death penalty, generally, but in this case… It's a cliché, but death's too good for them.'\n\n'Quite possibly, but–' Dione stopped and lifted her head. 'It's mandatory under the circumstances,' she finished just as a rather weary-looking Mary walked into the lounge and dumped a small bag on the floor.\n\n'Is the coffee fresh?' Mary asked." }, { "from": "human", "value": "'Just made,' Dione replied, 'but you look like you'd be better off in bed.'" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "'After I've told you what I found. Some of it anyway. I'm not writing any of this down.' Mary headed for the kitchen, returning a few seconds later with a mug." }, { "from": "human", "value": "'Juliana hasn't been a problem?'" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "'As good as gold,' Dione replied. 'Which is what I expected.'\n\n'Yeah…' Mary slumped onto the sofa opposite the other two women and sighed. 'Okay… You asked me to look into Silas and I was getting nowhere the conventional way." }, { "from": "human", "value": "He just didn't exist in any records after San Francisco.'" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "'So you went looking by unconventional means.'\n\n'Yeah, I hacked Langley.'\n\nLisa let out a little squeak. 'Should I go hide in the bedroom or something?'" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Mary waved the question away." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "'You may not be on the payroll, but you're basically SCU and this affects you. We were right: the CIA is attempting to use vampires in espionage and warfare. The whole thing seems to be being run under a Project Stabledoor. There are various sub-projects under that headline and I wasn't able to get details on all of them." }, { "from": "human", "value": "The security on this thing is tight, but it has a fairly large, off-the-books budget and a reasonably large personnel count.'" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "She took a sip of her coffee and sighed thankfully. 'As far as I could tell, they were formed in nineteen eighty-one. They started out trying to collect data on vampires, but in eighty-three, they decided to step things up. During the chaos in San Francisco, they were able to capture several vampires without anyone noticing.'" }, { "from": "human", "value": "'Silas,' Lisa said." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "'Was one of them. I think they got three valentines, a couple of carpathians, and a han. Some of them didn't survive for long; Silas was one of the ones who did. I don't think he cooperated immediately, but by eighty-eight, there were memos sent by him suggesting that valentines would make excellent infiltration agents." }, { "from": "human", "value": "They'd tried creating a drug by then, Eros, so they listened." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Project Black Carp was set up to find suitable candidates, train them in what to expect, convert them, and then train them in using their powers. Silas was the creator in all cases.'\n\n'And Evan was one of the candidates?' Dione asked.\n\nMary nodded. 'November nineteen eighty-eight." }, { "from": "human", "value": "He was sent to Russia in ninety-nine." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "I found memos from Silas suggesting that the man was unstable, and internal memos suggesting that all vampires are unstable so Silas should be ignored. Evan was supposed to be just gathering information, seducing some secretary or something. Instead, he killed his target and went off the grid. In February and March of the following year, Evan killed three women in Moscow, and the pattern was set from there.'" }, { "from": "human", "value": "'So Silas is here looking for Evan?' Lisa asked." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "'And they must be worried to be sending him out like this,' Dione added. 'They've kept him locked up for thirty years and now they're sending him out to gather information.'\n\n'They're worried that we'll catch Evan,' Mary said. 'I found a few emails saying as much, and they have some fairly detailed files on SCU." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Their history of you, Di, is far from complete and they don't know half of what you can do.'" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "'Do they have files on me?' Lisa asked. 'Leeanne?'\n\n'Cursory stuff. You're noted as a friend of Leeanne, who is the girlfriend of Mike. That's about it. I suspect that will be updated soon, however. Maybe it has been." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Stabledoor doesn't operate out of Langley." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "They have a facility in New Mexico somewhere, but the electronic data gets copied and archived in Langley. I was just looking at the copies.'\n\nDione nodded. 'The ghouls we encountered? They seemed to have been modified by someone.'" }, { "from": "human", "value": "'Project Cerberus. That's still operating." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "They aren't happy with the results yet. I found the projects which created Eros and Apollo. Both closed down. The latter was linked to a follow-up project, but I could find very little on that. Just a name, Project Flashfire.'" }, { "from": "human", "value": "'All right. You get some sleep." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "I have four executions to perform in a short while. I'll be back after that's done. Lisa, you get a couple more hours too.'\n\n'What about Silas?' Lisa asked." }, { "from": "human", "value": "'I mean, he's living in Pat's apartment. She's–'" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "'Quite safe while they don't know we know what he's doing. And Pat can take care of herself. We'll deal with Silas when the time is right. Now, bed, both of you.'" } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "expand on the story like Niall Teasdale would" }, { "from": "system", "value": "Produce a starting prompt please." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "'Is she still painting?' Dione asked.\n\nMike took a cardboard cup of coffee from her and nodded. 'Still in that conservatory. Still working on that canvas." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Her T-shirt has some extra splashes of paint on it." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Aside from that, nothing's changed.' Dione sucked coffee down and then grimaced. 'That bad?'\n\n'Actually, it's about what I expected. Winthrop's machine tends to spoil you for the stuff they sell in shops.'" }, { "from": "human", "value": "The coffee tasted as though someone had used a garden barbecue to roast the beans and gone overboard with the lighter fluid." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "'I am not going to argue, but I think this is just bad coffee.' He lifted binoculars to his eyes and checked the house again. They had set up on the side of the house without trees screening it, which happened to be where the conservatory was. Since Jarvis had been working on her painting through lunch and into the afternoon, it had turned out to be a good vantage point, even if they were watching across two fields." }, { "from": "human", "value": "'We'll give it another hour,' Dione said." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "'Maybe come back after dark if we see nothing before.'\n\n'Okay. At least that'll keep me out of Leeanne's nefarious clutches for a night.'\n\nDione chuckled. 'She is not that bad.'\n\n'No… No she's not." }, { "from": "human", "value": "She has got a lot wilder since… Well, since Pat gave her that jolt in the Candle, I think.'" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Mike frowned. 'Well… Maybe that started it, but I think it was discovering that vampires were real that really set her off. It's like… It's like she discovered that the world was a bit stranger than she thought it was, so she thinks she should be… um…'\n\n'More open to new experiences?'\n\n'Yeah. Maybe.'" }, { "from": "human", "value": "'Is that a problem?'" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "'No. I don't think it is. No. I–' Mike cut off and his back straightened. 'Someone else is there. I can see someone moving at the back.'" }, { "from": "human", "value": "'Let's be sure it's Evan." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "If she's just having an affair… Well, that's her problem.'\n\n'It's a man. I can see a silhouette… There he is. Uh, kind of hard to tell at this distance. Blonde, certainly. Height looks about right.'" }, { "from": "human", "value": "He handed the binoculars to Dione." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "'Your eyes are better than mine.'\n\n'Not so much in this light,' Dione grumbled, but she peered through the binoculars at the house. 'I think… I think we move in. I'm not sure about him, but she looks scared." }, { "from": "human", "value": "He might have some control over her, but she's not too keen on him groping her." }, { "from": "system", "value": "Next message should be approximately 1 sentence." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "That is not an off-the-books affair in progress. Let's go.'" } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Hey can you write like Niall Teasdale and use whatever i write as a jumping off point?" }, { "from": "human", "value": "'They have a watchman on the roof,' Dione said as she slipped back into the car." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "'It looks like it's intended as a small factory space, but it's not in use at the moment. For its intended purpose anyway.'\n\n'Not uncommon on the Navy Yard,' Mike commented. 'No way to tell how many are in there?'" }, { "from": "human", "value": "'No, but it won't be a huge cell, and I took out three of them on Long Island." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "ETA for the SWAT team?'\n\nMary's voice came from Mike's phone, set between the seats. 'Five minutes. They've been briefed to expect armed resistance and that it's a hostage situation.'\n\n'All right. I'm going to go eliminate the watch position." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Mike, when SWAT gets here, you take them in through the front door as soon as you can." }, { "from": "system", "value": "Now write approximately 5 sentences." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "If there's someone up on the top, there must be rooftop access, so I'll start down and meet you halfway.' Dione reached for the door handle.\n\n'Okay, but be careful,' Mike said.\n\nDione flashed him a smile. 'You be careful. If you get shot, you don't heal as fast as I do.'" } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Write 4 sentences sentences in the style of Penny Reid spawning from what the user wrote." }, { "from": "human", "value": "True to his word, there was no monkey business." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "And, even though we both consumed additional alcoholic beverages neither of us initiated any physical intimacy beyond brief touches every so often. Although, from time to time, Quinn would brush my hair away from my shoulders or face and would lay his arm along the back of my seat.\n\nIt felt strange to listen to a concert rather than to be actively be engaged in it; we didn't sing or dance or clap. In fact, we spoke through most of it; it might as well have been background music on a stereo system." }, { "from": "human", "value": "At one point we ignored it all together and spent forty-five minutes debating my good-bad-stupid-lazy philosophy." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "It was Quinn's belief that, if I included both good and bad, I should add intelligent and motivated. I countered that the absence of stupidity implied intelligence but the absence of bad did not imply good.\n\nWhen he caught me yawning for the second time he decided it was time to take me home. A black Mercedes met us when we arrived downstairs; to my astonishment we were greeted by a familiar face." }, { "from": "human", "value": "It was Vincent. Vincent the limo driver who helped me move the contents of my belongings from Jon's apartment then took me to Elizabeth's apartment on my worst-day-ever." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "I couldn't believe my eyes at first but then, as he held the door open, he winked at me. I could only stare at him dumbly.\n\nQuinn and I spent the first half of the car ride in separated silence, sitting on opposite ends of the long leather bench seat. My brain hurt. It was tired of trying to keep up with so many changes and gauging the appropriateness of my reactions." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Nevertheless, I attempted to sort through the last several hours I glanced at the back of Vincent's head and once or twice he caught my eye in the rearview mirror." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "At some point I would need to ask Quinn if he'd arranged the limo that took me home those weeks ago or if Vincent's presence tonight was merely a fluke.\n\nAt a stop light Quinn pulled me out of my musings by unbuckling my seat belt. I met his gaze, the clear blue of his eyes appearing opalescent in the dark car; he silently pulled me to the center of the bench. He wrapped his arms around me, guided my back to his chest, then fastened the middle buckle around me." }, { "from": "human", "value": "I felt warm and safe which, paradoxically, made me shiver and my heart race with apprehension." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "When we arrived outside my building Vincent the driver opened the door and offered his hand. I smiled up, then down, at him as I climbed out. \"It's good to see you again.\"\n\n\"You too. You are looking very beautiful.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "His brown eyes twinkled at me under the street lamp; he brought my knuckles to his lips and gave them a kiss, just like he'd done before." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Quinn stood from the car behind me and I walked forward, turning to continue my conversation with the driver, \"And how is your wife? Your grandchildren?\"\n\n\"Ah-the days are long but the years are short.\" He shook his head and looked to the heavens.\n\nQuinn looked from Vincent to me, then back again." }, { "from": "human", "value": "He raised an eyebrow but didn't say anything." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "I said my farewell to the driver; Quinn, placing his hand on the small of my back, guided me to the steps of my building. We stopped at my door and I fished my keys from the portfolio case.\n\n\"How do you know Vincent?\" One of Quinn's hands was in his pocket, the other was scratching the day-old stubble on his jaw." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"I was meaning to ask you about that.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "I paused as I separated the front door key from the others, \"Vincent was driving the limo that took me home on the day I was downsized.\"\n\nQuinn's eyes clouded over then his brow lifted in sudden understanding. He looked away from me and to the door of my building.\n\nI eyed him suspiciously before I asked, \"Did you arrange for the car that day?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "He hesitated then nodded, still not making eye contact." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Yes.\" was all he said.\n\n\"Why did you do that?\"\n\nHe met my gaze, \"You seemed…\" he sighed, \"upset.\"\n\n\"You didn't even know me.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"But I wanted to.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He countered, shifting closer, his hand lifting and tucking a curl behind my ear.\n\nI swallowed with effort and lifted my chin to maintain eye contact as frenzied warmth twisted in my chest. \"Why didn't you just talk to me then? Ask me on a date?\"\n\nQuinn's eyes narrowed and considered me, he looked particularly hawkish as he said, \"I don't date.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "I frowned at him." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Before I could process his response he bent and kissed me for the third time that night. This one was different; not the slow, savoring sweetness of our first kiss and most definitely not a quick caress of lips like our last. This one was hungry and immediately demanding.\n\nHe fisted his hand in my hair and backed me into the door of my building, trapping me in place." }, { "from": "human", "value": "It was the kind of kiss which drove all coherent thought away; bloodthirsty wolves chasing after bunny rabbits." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "My body responded automatically in a way I didn't know possible, my back arching, wanting to press every inch of myself against his taut form and the painfully delightful ache in my lower stomach started to wind its way around my limbs.\n\nJust as suddenly as it had begun it was over; he ended by nipping at my bottom lip and waiting for me to open my eyes so he could stare into them. I felt him slide something into my pocket.\n\nHe smiled almost imperceptibly, \"I had Jamal pick up your cell from the office. I'll call you tomorrow so we can make arrangements for dinner.\"" } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Task: The user will write a bit then you need to write around 4 sentences continuing directly from the user's text.\n\nAuthor style: Penny Reid" }, { "from": "system", "value": "Produce a starting prompt please." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "That night's dinner began with one of the most awkward silences I've ever experienced in my life. I had to bite both my cheeks to keep from filling the black hole of unsaid words. After introductions Jon sat next to me, on the booth along the wall, and glowered at Quinn. Quinn, from his chair opposite us, smiled at Jon." }, { "from": "human", "value": "It was a smug smile tinged with a certain amount of swagger." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "I didn't know how to feel about it so I just ignored it for the time being. I kept swallowing and hoped my excessive, obsessive compulsive action went unnoticed. Finally, feeling like I was going to burst, I excused myself from the table and half bolted to the ladies' room. I stayed there until I felt capable keeping a rein on the overflowing list of factoids related to black holes." }, { "from": "human", "value": "As I left the small ladies' parlor I noticed for the first time how really nice the restaurant was." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "It smelled like garlic and roux, the walls were a pale yellow except the crown molding which was a dark, natural stained wood. Windows were framed in sheer burgundy curtains and beautiful oil landscapes, of what I assumed were the French countryside, added intimate elegance without making the place feel cluttered or like an art museum.\n\nThe tables were covered in white cloths; rows of forks, spoons, and knives spread like petals on either side of a series of plates stacked one on top of the other; largest on the bottom, smallest on the top. A delicately folded linen napkin, which looked like a swan, spilled out of a water glass to the right of the plates." }, { "from": "human", "value": "I was so distracted by the ambiance that I didn't notice until I returned to the table that Quinn was sitting alone." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "I glanced around the small restaurant and saw Jon's retreating form heading out the door. Without thinking I followed him and called his name.\n\nHe paused. He turned slowly and stepped back into the bistro. I noted his eyes move beyond me to where Quinn sat then back to mine." }, { "from": "human", "value": "His expression, usually so open and unguarded, was remote and sullen." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"What's going on? Where are you going?\" I stopped in front of him, my palms up between us.\n\nHe huffed, answering through clenched teeth, \"I'm leaving.\"\n\n\"Why?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "His green eyes moved between mine and his expression seemed to soften." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Jon shifted on his feet and took one of my hands in his, \"Listen, Janie, no matter what he says I want you to know that I love you. Just promise me that you'll call me tomorrow-no matter what you'll call me tomorrow and we'll talk.\"\n\nI shook my head, befuddled, \"Do you two know each other?\"\n\n\"No. We've never met.\"\n\n\"What did you two talk about?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"It was nothing—\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Then why are you leaving?\"\n\nHe squeezed my hand, \"Just promise me, please?\"\n\nI shrugged, \"Fine, fine-I promise. I'll call you tomorrow… This is too bizarre.\"\n\nHe smiled tightly, in a way that didn't reach his eyes, and released my hand." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Swiftly, in one fluid motion, Jon leaned forward and kissed my cheek then turned and left." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "I stared at the door for several minutes.\n\nWhen I turned around I found Quinn watching me. His expression was inscrutable, as always; and, as typical, his cerulean eyes seemed to be thinly masking a mischievous flicker. I walked back to the booth that lined the wall and my pace decelerated to a slow motion shuffle as I approached." }, { "from": "human", "value": "I stared at him, with much the same perplexed expression I'd used on the door, then slid into the booth, opposite his chair." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "As though nothing were amiss he motioned to the martini glass in front of me, \"I ordered you a lemon drop.\"\n\nMy attention shifted momentarily to the whiskey-colored liquid in front of him and the glass in front of me. There were only two glasses.\n\nI frowned." }, { "from": "human", "value": "I glared at Quinn, hoping to convey the intensity of my suspicion." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"What did you and Jon talk about? Why did he leave?\"\n\nQuinn didn't even have enough decency to look ashamed. Instead he watched me with his up-to-no-good eyes and took a long swallow if his whiskey before responding, \"You should ask him.\"\n\n\"I did. He insisted it was nothing.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "My tone was flat and laced with the disbelief I felt." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Quinn shrugged, \"Then it must have been nothing…\" his mouth pulled to the side in a barely there smile, \"Unless Jon was lying.\"\n\nI crossed my arms over my chest and leaned back in my seat contemplating him and his dissatisfactory answer. He met my gaze steadily. At length I said, \"You're not being very nice.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"What have I done that's not nice?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"I think you're being kind of sneaky. And that's why I think you're not being nice.\"\n\nHis smile faded, \"Sneaky isn't on your four-quadrant scatterplot graph personality matrix.\"\n\nMy eyes narrowed further, \"Maybe it should be. Maybe I should add honesty as an axis and make it a 3-D model.\"\n\n\"Do you think I'm being dishonest?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "His voice was level but his eyes seemed to flare with challenge." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"No, I think you're being technically honest, which is almost worse.\"\n\nAll tangible expression left his features and his steady stare burned with intensity, I felt my cheeks redden under his scrutiny but maintained eye contact even when my heart began to race and a twisting nervousness wrestled in my chest. After a prolonged silence he stood from his chair; his towering form moving with panther-like ease and adroit grace. Quinn slid in next to me." }, { "from": "human", "value": "He placed his arm behind me on the back of the booth and his gaze moved between my neck, lips, and eyes." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "For a moment I thought he was going to try to kiss me. Instead he leaned close and whispered, \"What do you want to know?\"\n\nIt took a moment for me to form thoughts. Words followed sometime after: \"I want to know what you said to Jon when I went to the bathroom.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "He sighed, \"We did talk.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Quinn seemed to eye me speculatively then said, \"And what I said is likely the reason he left. I'm not trying to be evasive but, it's not my secret to tell.\"\n\n\"What does that mean? 'Not your secret to tell'?\"\n\n\"It means that Jon has something he should tell you. If you want to know what it is then you should ask him.\"\n\n\"And you're not going to tell me what it is?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "He shook his head, his gaze was steady and his voice was matter-of-fact, \"No. It's not my place.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "I chewed on my top lip, scrutinizing him, finally deciding I believed him. \"Fine.\" I said with decisiveness. \"Thank you for being honest.\"\n\nHe nodded once, \"You're welcome. Now I get to ask a question.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "I couldn't stop myself from rolling my eyes, \"Are we playing this game again?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "His smile was immediate and dazzling, \"I like this game and I definitely like playing it with you.\"\n\nBefore he could follow through with his question we were interrupted by the waiter asking if we were ready to order. Quinn seemed to reluctantly pull his attention from me but left his arm along the booth at my back. I picked up the menu planning to make a hurried selection." }, { "from": "human", "value": "However, for the second time in our short acquaintance, Quinn did that thing that you see in movies but don't ever experience in real life: without asking for my opinion he ordered for me." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"We will start with the tarte aux champignons and two salade au chevrotin. The lady will have Gigot D'Agneau au jus et Romarin and I'll have Steak Grillé au Poivre, medium. We'll also take a bottle of Chateauneuf du Pape, the 2005 Cuvee.\"\n\nThe waiter bowed slightly at the waist as Quinn plucked the menu from my hand, passing it to him. The server gave us a tight smile, said, \"Very good, Sir.\" and left.\n\nQuinn turned his body back to me and gifted me with his slow, sexy smile." }, { "from": "human", "value": "It did strange things to my insides, like making them become a boneless mass of warm giddiness." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "My brain, also, felt hazy. I didn't feel the annoyance at his ordering for me that I should have.\n\nBefore he could follow through with his question I asked one of my own, \"Why are you always keeping score?\" Wanting to do something with my hands I pulled my napkin out of the glass; the swan dissolved into a plain, white, linen rectangle." }, { "from": "human", "value": "I placed it on my lap." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "His voice was low when he spoke, his eyes caressing my lips, \"In every relationship or interaction there are winners and losers. It doesn't matter if it's business or family or-\" he paused for just a fraction of a second, his eyes seeming to burn a brighter blue, \"or involvement with the opposite sex. Someone always wins, someone always loses. I don't like to lose.\"\n\nHis words were somewhat sobering, my insides started to congeal and my brain managed to catapult over the fog, \"That's an interesting theory.\" And it was. It was an interesting theory. I saw merit in it but also felt it was fundamentally flawed, \"And, I suppose, if the relationship is between two people who are keeping score then you are right-there will be a winner and a loser. However, if no one is keeping score then no one loses.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "His eyes narrowed at me, just briefly, then he leaned forward resting one forearm along the table, \"Just because you don't keep score doesn't mean one person isn't functioning at a deficit in the relationship, taking more than they are giving.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He reached across the table and grabbed his abandoned whiskey glass.\n\n\"There were a lot of negatives in that sentence, 'don't, doesn't, isn't.' Maybe that's your problem.\"\n\n\"My problem?\" His eyes narrowed further.\n\n\"Yes, your problem. Maybe you're focused too much on the negatives. The negative invoices on the relationship spreadsheet.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "I started to laugh, \"My problem is I miss the obvious, your problem is that you pay too much attention to it.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He seemed to smile in spite himself; a reluctant laugh passed his lips. His gaze was unguarded and appraising as he said, \"You might be on to something.\" He pulled at his bottom lip with his thumb and forefinger distractedly, continuing his open assessment of me, his smile widening.\n\nI basked in the warmth of his approving gaze briefly before I poked him, \"So, what led you to this pessimistic perspective? Do your parents call you all the time wanting you to babysit their cat? Or install gutters on the family house? I helped my dad install gutters on our house when I was sixteen. It was truly awful.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "An expression which could only be described as grim melancholy cast a shadow over Quinn's face." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He plainly swallowed with effort then said, \"I don't talk to my parents. I haven't talked to them since my brother died.\"\n\nMy own smile immediately waned and I stared at him for a long moment. I fiddled with my napkin then set it down, clasping my hands in my lap. \"Oh. Well…\" I nodded, feeling like I needed to offer something in return, just in case he was keeping score on personal factoids, \"I talked to my dad a few weeks ago, when I lost my job. We don't really talk much but he's a good guy. He sends me email forwards. I don't talk to either of my sisters.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "He gave me a sideways glance, \"Why not?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"We don't really have anything in common and their choices in careers makes it difficult to maintain a meaningful relationship.\"\n\n\"Both my father and my brother were police officers in Boston. They were not too happy with my choice of career.\"\n\n\"What? A security guard or consultant or whatever you are?\"\n\nQuinn's mouth hooked to the side and he paused before responding, his eyes moving over me, his expression somewhere between bemused and amused, \"No, actually. When I was younger I was something of a reverse hacker.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"What do you mean?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"I helped people secure their computers, systems, networks.\"\n\n\"Why wouldn't your dad like that?\"\n\n\"Because most of the people who hired me to do this were criminals.\"\n\n\"So you created firewalls for mob bosses? As an aside, if I started a band 'Mob Boss Firewall' would be an excellent name.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Cringing, I mentally kicked myself for the tactless aside." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Nothing so poetic.\" He glanced down at his almost empty whiskey and studied the amber liquid; his shoulders seemed to slump under the weight of something I couldn't see. After a long minute he said, \"Actually, what I really did was keep their data from being used against them should their computers or hardware be confiscated.\"\n\nThis was not something I expected. Before I could catch myself I asked, \"Where did you learn to do that?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "He shrugged, not looking at me, \"Mostly self-taught. I went to college in Boston for two years. My major was computer science but dropped out when business started to pick up.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Why did you stop? Why did you stop reverse-hacking for criminals?\"\n\nHe lifted his eyes to mine, his expression blank; \"How do you know I stopped?\"\n\n\"I guess I don't. Did you stop?\"\n\n\"I did.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Why? If it was so profitable.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Because…\" his eyes moved between mine, his brow pulled low as though he were trying very hard to decipher a mystery. His attention moved to my hair cascading over my shoulder. With an absentminded expression he picked up a curl and rubbed it between his thumb and forefinger. His voice was distant, distracted when he responded, \"Because I was the reason my brother died.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "I didn't know what to say so I just watched him." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Quinn's eyes moved back to mine; he seemed to be attempting to gauge my reaction. He half smiled but it was tinged with bitterness. \"How the first program worked was that when any attempt was made to access data in the absence of an RFID transmitter, a background script would run which wiped the hard drive clean rendering it inoperable. Later, as my customer base grew and for larger data systems, I built a degausser. I had to add on a battery backup, just in case the system was powered down. As you can imagine, the battery backup had a nasty habit of catching on fire.\"\n\nI cleared my throat and swallowed, wanting to add that the risk of fire could have been tempered by insulating and cooling the degauseer." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Instead I asked, \"Why do you think you were the reason your brother died?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "His mouth curved into a frown and he sighed, \"Because one of the guys, one of your 'bad guys', who I worked for, shot my brother.\"\n\nI blinked, \"I don't-I don't understand.\"\n\n\"Months before Des-my brother-was killed, the police had a search warrant and took all of this guy's computers, backups, everything. The program I built worked perfectly and the police came up empty. If I hadn't put the program on his computer, if I hadn't helped him keep his information safe from the police then he would have been in jail instead of-\"\n\nI closed my hand around his not wanting him to finish the sentence." }, { "from": "human", "value": "It was a horrible story." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "I wanted to say that it wasn't his fault but I felt like that statement would come across as pandering and patronizing.\n\nInstead I said, \"I understand why you blame yourself.\"\n\nHe blinked at me then narrowed his gaze a fraction as though trying to see me better. This time both his eyes and his smile were sad, \"Do you blame me?\"" } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Write four sentences sentences in the style of Penny Reid spawning from what the user wrote." }, { "from": "system", "value": "Produce a starting prompt please." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "I've come to rely on my knitting group to be my compass in all things confusing and difficult to comprehend; this usually means relationships and interactions with other humans… er, people. My ladies have helped me navigate everything from precarious office politics to dealings with my ex's mother. And this is why they are supportive and engaged when I explain to them my current situation with Quinn.\n\nIt was Tuesday night and we were gathered in Sandra's roomy two bedroom apartment." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Fiona was the only one missing, having to stay home at the last minute as her daughter was sick with the flu." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Most of us had a drink in our hand and I'd just finished passing the evil cell phone around so they could all read the texts. I also just finished giving them a Cliff Notes version of the last week.\n\nThey were all silent. Ashley staring off into space, Marie frowning at a half knitted sweater, Sandra standing at the entrance to her kitchen leaning against the wall as though in heavy contemplation, Kat watching me with a cloudy mixture of introspection and trepidation, and Elizabeth was still scrolling through Quinn's texts." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Ashley was the first to pipe up, her thick Tennessee accent makes even this sound charming, \"I think he was upset about that guy in the park and that's why he turned down your hot bod.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Some of them nodded in agreement, some of them continued to stare unseeingly.\n\nI sighed. \"But, how interested could he really be? By the mighty power of Thor! I threw myself at him!\"\n\nElizabeth frowned at me, \"Did you really just say: 'by the mighty power of Thor!'\"\n\n\"I'm trying to cuss less.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Some of them nodded in agreement, some of them continued to stare unseeingly." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "I sighed. \"I think I completely messed up. I think he thinks I'm pathetic and he's just trying avoid me by making up some trip so he doesn't have to talk to me.\"\n\nMarie shook her head, her blonde shampoo commercial hair bouncing around her face, \"No. That's not it.\" She sounded so certain, \"That's definitely not it.\"\n\nElizabeth nodded in agreement, \"I agree with Marie. The boy is hot for you.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Some of them nodded in agreement, some of them continued to stare unseeingly." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "I sighed. \"Then why did he turn down my advances?\" I couldn't help the frustration in my voice. I knew part of my frustration was due to his absence. I'd been spoiled by seeing him almost every day last week and now I missed him." }, { "from": "human", "value": "I thought last Saturday, as he surveyed my apartment, that he didn't belong there, in my life." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "But now the absence of him made me feel like I was forever trying to catch my breath.\n\nAnd it had only been two days.\n\n\"Well, hell girl! He just watched you get man-handled by a creepy neck-tattooed skinhead.\" Sandra said as she pushed away from the wall and joined us in the living room, \"If he wasn't interested then he wouldn't be stuffing your cell phone inbox with messages. I think he's worried about you.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Also, hon, you may not have been as transparent with your advances as you believe. I've seen you, you're not a skilled flirter. It's usually hard to watch.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Ashley grimaced, likely thinking back to one of my awkward flirting attempts.\n\nKat said quietly, \"I don't understand his reaction to the guy in the park. It sounds like he completely overreacted. Janie, is there anything else? Did the guy threaten you?\"\n\nI shook my head, \"No. I just bumped into him. He was scary but, other than grab my arms he didn't do anything.\"\n\n\"But didn't McHotpants say he knew the guy?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Sandra poked me with a carrot before dipping it into a vat of blue cheese dressing and biting into it with a solid crunch." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"It was vague, something like he thought he looked familiar. I don't know.\" I pressed the heels of my hands into my eye sockets then allowed the back of my head to fall against the tall chair behind me. \"I mean, if you think about it, the first time I spoke to Quinn was only four weeks ago. I don't really know him at all. Maybe the guy in the park actually freaked him out and I'm wrong. Maybe he's just not into me and I'm right. Maybe Quinn is an alien and is finished with his study of humankind and no longer has use for me as a specimen.\"\n\nMarie shook her head, \"Four weeks is long enough. People have fallen head over heels in less time than that.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Did he actually put guards on you?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Ashley pointed the question to me but her eyes were on Elizabeth.\n\n\"Yes. He did.\" I frowned at that. The first time I saw them was Monday morning as I was leaving for work. They'd approached me outside my building, both dressed casually in jeans and t-shirts and looking like regular guys, and told me that they worked for Infinite Systems." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Mr. Sullivan, it seemed, put in an order for two twenty-four hour protection teams." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "They promised I wouldn't notice them. They were right; over the last two days I'd forgotten about it.\n\n\"The guards are likely outside now. We should bring them some coffee or something.\" Elizabeth looked up from the cell phone and handed it back to me, \"The friendship one is funny-about peeing. I think I'm going to use that.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "I accepted the hateful phone from Elizabeth and stared at the last two messages." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Quinn, true to his word, continued to send me jokes every day which only served to further confuse me.\n\nMarie started knitting again, \"Time will tell. I say just wait and see if he calls you on Thursday, see what he says.\"\n\nI stood and stretched, \"You're right! I'm done thinking about this. Done, done, done!\" I swished my hand in a circle and snapped three times then walked to the bathroom, wanting to excuse myself in hopes that my absence would change the subject." }, { "from": "human", "value": "I wasn't in the bathroom long, just enough time to wash my hands, when I heard a knock on the door." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Just a minute, I'm almost done.\" I called absentmindedly.\n\n\"Janie, it's Kat. Can I come in?\"\n\n\"Yeah, I'm almost done.\"\n\n\"No-\" Kat's voice dropped to a whisper, I could tell she had her lips close to the crack in the door, \"I mean, can I come in and join you, I-I need to tell you something.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "I opened the door then turned to search for a towel, \"What's up? Are you ok?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Kat's voice was heavy with hesitation behind me, \"I found… something… out.\" The soft click of the door closing surprised me so I turned to face her, mopping up the dampness of my hands with a really amazingly fluffy and absorbent towel. I made a mental note to ask Sandra where she purchased her towels.\n\nWhen Kat didn't continue I lifted my eyebrows, \"About what?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "She looked entirely too serious, like my dad did the day he told me Santa Claus wasn't real. I was fifteen." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"It's about your job, at the firm.\" She hesitated again, tucking her brown wavy hair behind her ears, \"I found out why they let you go.\"\n\n\"Oh.\" I gripped the towel; it was squishy. I'd forgotten that Kat had agreed to try to find out why I was let go." }, { "from": "human", "value": "At present I didn't particularly care." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Janie-\"\n\nShe said my name in a way that is usually followed with: \"Where were you the night of the murder?\" or \"You're going to want to sit down for this.\" I increased my grip on the towel." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"- it was Mr. Holsome.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "I blinked. Silence stretched. Kat's eyes continued to watch me with wide rimmed caution.\n\n\"Mr. Holsome?\" I repeated, confused, \"You mean, Jon's dad? My Jon's dad? That Mr. Holsome?\"\n\nKat nodded and leaned against the closed door. She sighed." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"I don't-\" I blinked at her again and sat down on the closed toilet seat lid, \"I don't understand. Why would Jon's dad want me to lose my job?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "She looked miserable as she said, \"I don't know the why, but I can tell you I'm 100% certain he was responsible. He threatened to pull out of the South Side project if they didn't let you go and he was insistent that it had to be that day.\"\n\nThat day.\n\nThat day I found out Jon had cheated on me. That day I broke up with him before I left for work that morning." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Kat must've seen the wheels turning in my rickety brain because she said, \"Do you think Jon asked him to do it? Do you think, when you broke up with him, that he… did that?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "I shook my head. I could only huff a response. \"I don't know, I can't…\" my words trailed off and I thought about the accusation Kat voiced and I'd been thinking.\n\nIt didn't seem likely, but I was disturbed to realize it seemed plausible." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Jon had said on more than one occasion, both when we were together and since we'd broken up, that he wanted me to rely on him, that he wanted to take care of me, that I needed him." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "I didn't feel that way, I wondered why he did. Maybe it was because he felt it was true.\n\nMaybe it was because his father had been able to end my employment with a phone call.\n\n\"What are you going to do?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Kat was twisting her hands in front of her, looking nervous and anxious on my behalf." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"I don't know.\" I shook my head then said it again, \"I don't know.\"\n\nIt didn't seem fair that Jon should be able to, on a petulant whim, decide to make a call which made me lose my job; a job, mind you, that I was quite skilled at but which I didn't miss. I honestly didn't know what I was going to do. Part of me wondered if it even mattered." } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Let's engage in a collaborative writing exercise. I'll provide a starting point, and You'll continue with 4 sentences in the style of Penny Reid." }, { "from": "system", "value": "Produce a starting prompt please." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Carlos and Quinn disappeared together directly after the meeting adjourned and I begged off dinner with Steven, claiming a headache. Of course, Steven still threatened to keep his promise of a sleepover. I was noncommittal and laughed at his good natured teasing but I didn't feel like company, I felt like stewing in my room, alone, with a bottle of wine and a hamburger and HBO.\n\nBefore I ran off Steven reminded me that our meetings for the following day had been canceled and that the plane would now be departing at 3:00 pm." }, { "from": "human", "value": "He suggested we meet up during the day and try to see a little of Vegas before leaving." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "I was, again, noncommittal. I kind of felt like a jerk.\n\nI did have a headache. I had a cornucopia of confusion to sort through." }, { "from": "human", "value": "I needed to figure out what I needed, what I wanted, and what was right and where they all intersected." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "What I needed was to keep my distance from male humans-i.e. Jon and Quinn-keep my job, and reorganize my life so that calm and order were restored.\n\nWhat I wanted was to throw myself at Quinn and continue behaving like an infatuated teenager.\n\nAnd I didn't know what was right." }, { "from": "human", "value": "When room service arrived I took the bottle of wine into the bathroom and had a bubble bath." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The hotel tub was nowhere near the awe-inspiring spectacularness of the apartment tub Quinn showed me last Sunday, when we toured the company's new apartment space in the high-rise by the park, but it was perfectly adequate for my current needs.\n\nNevertheless, after an hour in the tub drinking alone, I felt no closer to solving my dilemma. Instead I was left with an empty bottle of wine, pruney fingers, and more questions.\n\nI was getting dressed when I heard a confident knock on my door; it was just past 9:30pm." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Naturally I assumed it was Steven making good on his sleepover threat." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Due to this perilous assumption I didn't check the peephole, I just opened the door.\n\nIt was a crucial, if not monumental, mistake.\n\nIf I'd seen Quinn first through the fish-eye opening I might've had time to compose myself, I might have decided to pretend I was asleep, I might have trapped myself under a heavy immovable object or jumped out the thirty-story window.\n\nAs it was, I could only return his smolder with stunned, albeit tipsy, surprise; my internal organs and major muscle groups were helpless against the chemical reaction reducing them into frozen yet gelatinous goo." }, { "from": "human", "value": "My heart, likewise, spring boarded to my throat and I was abruptly aware that I was attired only in a white tank top, bra, and bikini bottoms; so, basically, my underwear." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "I'd like to say that, when faced with the smoldering indigo eyes of Quinn Sullivan after a bottle of wine, his impressively massive and muscled form hovering outside my hotel room door and big hands gripping the frame on either side of aforementioned door, I felt very little in the way of intense physical or emotional response.\n\nIf I said that then I'd be a dirty liar. A dirty, dirty liar.\n\nQuinn, suspended like a metaphor on the abyss of in-my-room/out-of-my-room, was still in his custom cut black suit, white shirt, blue silk tie." }, { "from": "human", "value": "However, he was emphatically mussed." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "His tie was loosened haphazardly and hung a little off balance around his neck; his shirt was wrinkled from hours of wear; his hair was askew and spiking about at odd angles; his chin and jaw were shadowed with a full day of stubble. Of course, he still looked like a GQ model. But, instead of the well groomed variety he looked like the well tousled variety.\n\nThe fact that he said nothing at all didn't help." }, { "from": "human", "value": "He just… looked. At first he held my gaze for a long moment then he looked up; he looked down; he looked all around." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "This was done with such a deliberate languorous insolence that I began to feel like I was being perused for purchase. I blamed my slightly inebriated state when I was tempted to ask if he were looking for something in particular or just window shopping.\n\nRegardless, his eyes were the bull, all my previous attempts at detachment were the china shop, and he was smashing it to pieces-smash, smash, smash.\n\nI managed a deep breath but couldn't seem to release it." }, { "from": "human", "value": "I maybe resembled a red nosed Reindeer caught in headlights." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Then, he moved.\n\n\"Can I come in.\" Quinn asked the question like it was a statement and, without even pretending my response mattered, he walked into my room leaving me to stare after him as I held the door.\n\n\"I don't-I- well-if- you-I guess-how… ok.\" As he walked by I smelled whiskey and whatever aftershave or soap still clung to his skin and suit." }, { "from": "human", "value": "He smelled delicious. Smash, smash, smash." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "I released the breath I'd been holding after a further three of four seconds then, on fragmented auto pilot, hesitantly closed the door. I kept changing my mind as I moved in slow motion, reconsidering the correctness or appropriateness of closing the door while my boss' boss sauntered around my hotel room.\n\nMy internal dialogue went something like this: leave it open!… but that would be strange if someone walks by… who cares? I care! Why do I care? Just close it!" }, { "from": "human", "value": "You can't close it; you're in your underwear!!" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "and if the door is closed you might… do… something… Here is the situation: I'm in my underwear in my room with Quinn and my alcohol laden inhibitions are low, low, low. It's like closing yourself up in a Godiva chocolate shop, of course you're going to sample something… Don't sample anything!! Don't even smell anything!! If you smell it you'll want to try it." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Don't smell him anymore. No." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "More. Smelling. I hope he doesn't see the empty bottle of wine… Put some clothes on. Is it weird if I dress in front of him?" }, { "from": "human", "value": "I want some chocolate. Ah!" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Clothes! !\n\nFinally the door closed even though I hadn't made a conscious decision to do so. I took a steadying breath then turned and followed, trailing some distance behind him and crossing to the opposite side of the room from where he was currently standing." }, { "from": "human", "value": "I spotted my workout shirt on the bed and attempted to surreptitiously put it on." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Quinn's back was to me and he seemed to be meandering around the space; he didn't appear to be in any hurry. He paused for a short moment next to my laptop and stared at the screen.\n\nHe looked lost and a little vulnerable. *Smash, smash, smash*\n\nI took this opportunity to rapidly pull on some sweatpants and a sweatshirt from my suitcase." }, { "from": "human", "value": "The sweatshirt was on backwards, with the little 'V' in the back and the tag in the front, but I ignored it and grabbed my jacket from the closet behind me and soundlessly slipped it on too." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He walked to the window and surveyed the view as I hurriedly pushed my feet into socks and hand knit slippers, given to me by Elizabeth last Christmas.\n\nI was a tornado of frenzied activity, indiscriminately and quietly pulling on clothes. I may have been overcompensating for my earlier state of undress. However, it wasn't until he, with leisurely languid movements, turned toward me that I finally stopped dressing; my hands froze on my head as I pulled on a white cabled hat, another hand knit gift from Elizabeth." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Quinn sighed, \"I need to talk to you about your sist-\" but then stopped speaking abruptly when he lifted his gaze to me." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "His features, shaping into something resembling dumbfounded astonishment, were cast in a warm glow from a shaded nearby lamp.\n\nHe looked earnestly surprised and a little boyish. Smash, smash, smash.\n\nHis mesmerizing eyes narrowed as they looked over my now completely covered form, the only skin showing was that of my face and hands. If I'd been thinking clearly and sober I might have felt ridiculous; instead, as I was most definitely not thinking clearly and was most definitely not sober, I was cursing myself for leaving my gloves in Chicago and I was looking for my glasses." }, { "from": "human", "value": "He shifted on his feet, stuffed his hands in his pockets, and studied me with open and growing amusement; \"Are you going somewhere?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "I swallowed and tried to shrug but the movement was lost under the layers of clothing, \"Yes.\" I lifted my chin, feeling suddenly hot which reminded me of how hot it was outside… even at 9:30pm; I then quickly amended, \"No.\" I lowered my hands from the hat on my head and tugged at the sleeves of the jacket, \"I haven't decided.\"\n\nHe tilted his head just so, his mouth tugging upward on one side and slowly, slowly, slowly started crossing to me, like he was stalking prey, like he was afraid sudden movements might send me into another tornado of movement." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Where were you thinking of going?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"To gamble.\" I blurted. It was the only thing I could think of in my slightly imbibed state as we were in Las Vegas and we were staying at a world infamous casino.\n\n\"Really?\" He asked conversationally, like I was telling him about a good bargain down at the Save A Lot. \"What were you thinking of playing?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Poker.\" I wanted to cross my arms over my chest but, due to clothing and boobs and lack of coordination, I encountered too much bulk; my movements were restricted." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Poker.\" He nodded once, holding me in place with a clearly skeptical if not entertained expression. \"Is it very cold? This place where you're going to play poker?\"\n\nWithout me really noticing he'd crossed the room. I felt like one moment Quinn was at the far side by the window and the next moment he was standing directly in front of me, no more than three feet of air, and clothes, separated us." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"N-no. Not necessarily. I just wanted to be prepared.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Prepared for artic temperatures?\"\n\n\"Prepared for any eventuality.\"\n\n\"Like what? Poker in a freezer?\"\n\n\"Like strip poker.\" I said the words before my brain thought them and, due to his proximity, I saw something the opposite of calm flash behind his eyes." }, { "from": "human", "value": "I chewed on my top lip to ensure I didn't say anything else; I knew my own eyes were overtly large and watchful and repentant for the most recent movements and sounds of my mouth." }, { "from": "system", "value": "Next message should be approximately 1 sentence." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Quinn swallowed, his expression less teasing but no less intense; \"We could-\" his gaze flickered to my lips then lifted to settle on my forehead, \"we could play strip poker here.\"" } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "The user will write a bit then you need to write around 4 sentences continuing directly from the user's text. Try to mimic the style of Penny Reid.Produce 4 sentences using the prose and structure of Penny Reid every time its your turn using what the user wrote as a seed." }, { "from": "system", "value": "Produce a starting prompt please." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "At first I didn't even contemplate sleep. I did laps around Quinn's bare apartment, wishing I'd brought a comic book with me, realizing I didn't even have my stupid cell phone. However, in a fit of petulant annoyance, I threw myself against the bed and promptly feel asleep.\n\nWhen I awoke I was confused." }, { "from": "human", "value": "The panorama of the park and the lake and the city told me that it was still the middle of the night but I had no idea how long I'd been asleep." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "I stretched, planning to get up and check the time on my watch via the light of the bathroom, but I, acutely, realized that I was not alone.\n\nThere was a body next to me.\n\nIn fact, I was curled around that body.\n\nAnd the body was not asleep." }, { "from": "human", "value": "My breath hitched, \"Quinn?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The arm around my shoulders squeezed gently before he removed it, shifting on the bed and propping himself up on an elbow so that we were facing.\n\n\"Hey-\" his other hand immediately entangled itself in my hair, tugging my head back so he could cover my mouth with his. I leaned into his kiss, pressing my body to his, feeling joy and relief and gratefulness that were indescribable.\n\nWe kissed, just kissed, for a long time." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Sometimes I was over him, sometimes he was over me, sometimes we were sitting up, sometimes we were lying down." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "It went on and on and, were it not for the necessity of air, we might have kissed for the rest of our lives. I would not have complained.\n\nHe pushed my hair from my face, at this point I was straddling his lap and we were on the middle of the bed, and rested his forehead against mine.\n\n\"Oh, Quinn, I am so sorry.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "I hugged him to me, my arms around his neck." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Janie, there is nothing to be sorry about-\"\n\n\"But I assumed the worst, I saw you with Jem and I assumed that you-that you and her-\"\n\nHis arms tightened around me, \"Were playing 'hide the salami'?\" he quoted Elizabeth's words from earlier which, despite the evening's events, made us both laugh." }, { "from": "human", "value": "When the short burst of laughter ended I nuzzled my head into the crook of his neck, careful to avoid his earlier injury, \"Dan brought me here and told me what happened, with Jem. I am sorry she bit you.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "His hand rubbed circles over my back, with each pass his hand moved lower until he was stroking the base of my spine just above the curve of my bottom. \"It's ok. I don't care about Jem.\"\n\nI pulled just far enough away from him so I could see his face. He looked tired, weary." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"I also-\" I sighed, \"You should know that I do trust you.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He offered me a small smile that didn't quite reach his eyes, \"We can talk about it in the morning.\"\n\n\"No-no, listen-\" I shifted backwards and at first he didn't let me go but then finally allowed me to stand from the bed. I reached into my pants pocket and pulled out the folded email, my voice was still thick with sleep, \"Olivia-at least I think it was Olivia-left this on my desk yesterday and I was going to show it to you today.\" I shoved the paper at him." }, { "from": "human", "value": "He looked from me to the paper then, with clear hesitation, took the sheet from my hand." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "I crossed to the bathroom and flipped on the light which gave him just enough illumination to read the contents. He pushed to the edge of the bed and stood, his long form unfolding, straightening, then stiffening as he read. A rush of breath escaped his lungs and his eyes flickered to me.\n\n\"I haven't seen this but, Janie-I can tell you-\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "I covered his hand holding the paper with mine, \"No-it doesn't matter. What I wanted to say was, what I want to say is that I saw this yesterday and-yes, admittedly, I had a momentary freakout but then I thought about it and I knew, I realized that I trust you. I knew there had to be a reasonable explanation and I was going to show it to you today, tonight, before everything went from Judd Apatow harmless to Quentin Tarantino horrifying.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Quinn took a step towards me, shaking his head, \"I asked them to-\"\n\n\"You don't have to explain. I just-I trust you, I trusted you. I just wanted you to know that I wasn't worried. I-I- I have faith in you.\"\n\nThis time his small smile did reach his eyes and he looked almost proud of himself, and a little mischievous. His gaze moved over my face in a slow sweep as he licked his lips, \"Let me tell you what this is about, ok?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "I nodded, \"You don't have to-\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"I want to.\" Quinn dipped his chin and leveled me with a measured stare. He glanced briefly at the email and handed it back to me, \"After you and I talked on Tuesday, when you told me you didn't want to take the plane back with everyone else, you felt uncomfortable leaving things undefined at work, I called Betty and tasked her with asking the lawyers to put a proposal together which would define work expectations in such a way that would allow you and I to continue our relationship outside of work.\"\n\nMy attention moved back to the email as he continued and I tried to re-read it with this information in mind.\n\n\"Obviously they misinterpreted the request. I wanted them to set up something-tangible, legal-that you could feel good about, that would protect you in case our relationship… ever… ended.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "One of his hands moved to the back of his neck and he began to rub the tendons." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"It reads like they interpreted your request, your main objective, to be protecting the company. They want me to resign so that you and I can date without putting the company at risk.\"\n\n\"I'll get it straightened out.\" He shifted closer, running the back of his knuckles against the skin where my scoop-neck shirt met my chest.\n\nI surveyed the email once more before stepping away from him to discard it on the dresser, \"I know you will.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "I couldn't meet his eyes." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Part of me wondered if it would just be better for everyone if I did quit. Then, I could date Quinn without making others uncomfortable about putting his company at risk.\n\n\"Hey-\" he tilted my chin back until I met his gaze, \"What are you thinking about? And don't tell me robots.\"\n\nDespite myself, I gave him a brittle grin, \"Maybe I should quit.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "He shook his head, \"No. That's not acceptable.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Quinn-\"\n\n\"That would be bad for my company.\"\n\n\"But at least-\"\n\n\"What are you so afraid of?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"I'm afraid that if you get to know me you'll think I'm weird.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The words, words I didn't even know I was going to say, blurted forth like a disobedient hiccup.\n\nHis gaze refocused, met mine directly, \"I do know you and, you're right, you are weird.\"\n\n\"I'm afraid you're laughing at me instead of with me.\"\n\nHe shrugged, \"There is nothing I can do about that. You're funny.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"I'm afraid that your money, and my lack of money, will come between us.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He placed his hands on his hips, \"It won't. I won't let it.\"\n\n\"I'm afraid that I feel more for you then you feel for me.\"\n\nHe shook his head slowly, \"That's not possible.\"\n\n\"I'm afraid that we're moving too fast and that this is just infatuation.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"I don't know what this is.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He breathed in as though he were going to continue but then paused.\n\nQuinn studied me, held my gaze, his eyes moving between mine. He seemed to be considering his next words carefully.\n\nI knew what I wanted him to say; I wanted him to tell me that this wasn't infatuation, that he was certain we were meant to be together into eternity, that I looked pretty in this dress and ask me if I did something different with my hair, that I was the most beautiful woman in the world to him." }, { "from": "human", "value": "It was what I wanted to hear because I was falling in love with him." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "…was in love with him.\n\nFinally-his words deliberate, cautiously crafted-Quinn said, \"I think about you all the time.\" His gaze narrowed, his jaw ticked as though the confession cost him, \"And I can't guarantee that this isn't infatuation because sometimes I think it has to be. But-\" his gaze moved upward then to the left and over my shoulder, \"- I don't think of you as perfect.\"\n\nI frowned at him." }, { "from": "human", "value": "I don't think of you as perfect." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Oh… ok.\" My eyelashes blinked in rapid succession and my brain started compiling the list of all my imperfections, \"It's because of my height? My seepage of trivial facts? My granny panties-\"\n\n\"No-listen-\" his attention swiftly moved back to me, \"that's not-\" he shook his head and swallowed, \"If this were infatuation-or just infatuation-then I would, we would become disillusioned at some point, yes?\"\n\nI nodded, I was sure unconvincingly.\n\nHe continued, \"I don't have misconceptions about you-that you're flawless. And you don't have any illusions about me. You're too practical and-if you did-you wouldn't have reminded me on Wednesday that I need to be a good guy.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "I nodded again, this time more convincingly albeit more wearily." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"I don't think this,\" he motioned between us, \"I don't think this is infatuation.\" He shifted closer and I thought he was going to touch me but, instead, he crossed his arms and his voice became softer, gentler, \"I know that life, in general, terrifies you; I know that you are frequently oblivious to the obvious; and I know you are completely irrational at times-\"\n\nI opened my mouth automatically because my brain was telling me to object but, surprisingly, I didn't actually feel any outrage at being called terrified, oblivious, and irrational. His assessment was, more or less, on target." }, { "from": "human", "value": "The fact that he knew these things about me, seemed to accept them, made me feel better and worse." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"- and it drives me crazy. You drive me crazy.\" His voice deepened and he leveled me with a narrowed glare as he continued, \"But, in spite of how totally nuts you are, I wouldn't change anything about you.\"\n\nI pressed my lips together and started biting the inside of my cheek; I bravely met his pointed stare. \"You think I'm totally nuts?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "He nodded and sighed, \"Yes. And I-\" his eyes moved over my forehead, eyebrows, nose, cheeks, lips, chin, \"I still can't stop thinking about you.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "I inhaled deeply, trying to breathe him in, trying to understand this desire to take him within myself and carry him with me always. He lowered just his head and my eyes began to drift shut.\n\n\"Janie…\"\n\nI sighed, \"Yes?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"What are you thinking?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "his voice was a whisper.\n\nI licked my lips, wanting his mouth on mine, driven to mad honesty, \"I love you.\"\n\nI sensed rather than saw his self-satisfied smile, \"Good.\"\n\nHe softly brushed his lips against mine." }, { "from": "human", "value": "My immediate confession-panic dissolved by the warmth of his closeness, his nearness blanketing me in a frightening sanctuary I never knew I wanted but now recognized was necessary to my continued existence." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "I lost myself to him and to myself; to trust and to faith; and in that moment I was fearless.\n\nEpilogue Quinn, four months later—\n\nWhen I walked into the luxury plumbing fixture store on West Lake Street, I was immediately struck by the fact that they had rows of toilets hanging on the walls. The floor was plain cement." }, { "from": "human", "value": "The walls were ordinary red brick." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Covering the floor and walls was an array of sinks, tubs, faucets, and toilets. The space was large but felt small due to the substantial array of bathroom fixtures.\n\nAutomatically I did a sweep of the store, located exits, sized up the other customers, and so forth. Habits come naturally. Once comfortable, I walked to Elizabeth; she was about forty feet away, studying a row of faucets on the wall." }, { "from": "human", "value": "She didn't look up when I approached but merely tipped her head in my direction as a greeting, \"McHotpants.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Elizabeth.\" I rubbed the back of my neck. I didn't mind the nickname when Janie used it. But it just didn't seem right with her friends, particularly Elizabeth. I hoped that today's meeting would improve our strained interactions." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Thank you for meeting me.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Elizabeth shrugged, \"No problem. Anything for Janie. She said she'd meet us here at six.\" She reached out and twisted the knobs on a faucet.\n\nIf Janie was going to arrive at six then that meant I only had a half hour to work through whatever issues Elizabeth obviously had with me dating Janie. I waited for Elizabeth to look up but instead she frowned at the metal spigot and walked further into the store." }, { "from": "human", "value": "I scowled at her, trying not to grind my teeth." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Why did you want to meet here?\"\n\n\"I want a new faucet.\"\n\n\"What's wrong with the faucet in the apartment?\"\n\n\"I don't like it.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "With a great deal of effort I managed to keep from rolling my eyes, \"Ok.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "She fiddled with another series of levers, \"Ok? So you're ok with me changing the sink?\"\n\nI glanced around the store again, counting three more people I'd missed in my first sweep of the space; \"Elizabeth, you can remodel the bathroom if you want, I don't care.\"\n\n\"And you'll pay for it?\"\n\n\"Sure, whatever. Whatever you want.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "She looked at me then." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Her pale blue eyes narrowed and she inspected me, like I was a disease.\n\nSince we met some four months ago, I had felt at cross purposes with Elizabeth. She was irritable every time I was alone in a room with her. Just last week, the last time Janie and I had spent the night at their place, Elizabeth made passive aggressive remarks about my inability to make a good cup of coffee." }, { "from": "human", "value": "I knew how to make coffee." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "I made really good coffee. She just didn't like me.\n\nUsually I wouldn't care; but, her best friend happened to be the woman I wanted to spend the rest of my life with. It was necessary to make an effort." }, { "from": "human", "value": "I met her glare with one of my own; finally, she spoke, \"So, Mr. Graniteface, what is this-\" she motioned between the two of us, \"-about? Why did you want to meet before Janie arrives?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "I crossed my arms over my chest, preparing to negotiate; \"We need to figure out some way to get along.\"\n\n\"You're right.\" She didn't look surprised by my statement.\n\n\"What is it about me that you dislike?\"\n\nShe lifted her blonde eyebrows, \"I don't dislike you.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "I didn't want to call her a liar so I didn't respond." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "After a protracted moment she continued, \"It's not that I dislike you. I just don't trust you.\"\n\n\"Why not?\"\n\n\"Because I don't understand your motivations and I still think you're hiding something.\" She mimicked my stance, crossing her arms over her chest." }, { "from": "human", "value": "She was small and looked silly when she tried to appear tough." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"I'm not hiding anything-\"\n\n\"Oh, really?\" Elizabeth started rubbing her chin with her thumb and forefinger, \"What did you do with Jem? What happened to all of the thugs from Boston? Why didn't they press charges?\"\n\n\"Janie and I discussed all of this. She knows that I took care it.\"\n\nElizabeth didn't hide her anger very well; \"Well, Janie won't tell me-\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Probably for your own good-\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"I want to know what happened, I don't want to be patted on the head and sent on my way! What if they come back? What about Janie-\"\n\n\"Janie is stronger than you think and I'll protect her if-\"\n\n\"-I need to know so I can take care of her, you can't protect her forever!\" Elizabeth waved her arms around wildly." }, { "from": "human", "value": "She was starting to draw attention to herself." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "I didn't particularly care but it was annoying.\n\nAnd, because I was annoyed, I responded without thinking, \"Yes, I can. When we get married, she'll be-\"\n\n\"You're getting married?!\" Elizabeth's shouted exclamation echoed against the porcelain tubs and drew all remaining eyes to our position.\n\nI glanced around the store, offered nothing but an unfriendly glare in apology for her outburst, then took Elizabeth by the arm and escorted her to the back of the store." }, { "from": "human", "value": "When I was satisfied that no one was listening or watching I responded in a low voice, \"I haven't asked her yet.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Elizabeth blinked at me, her mouth opened and closed. I gave up and rolled my eyes.\n\nWhen she finally spoke her voice was a tight whisper, \"I can't believe you're going to ask her to marry you!\" To my surprise she sounded excited, happy." }, { "from": "human", "value": "I blinked at her, my mouth opened and closed." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Oh my God, you have to let me help! I want to help! This is so exciting!\" She hopped back and forth on her feet, clapping her hands.\n\nI responded through gritted teeth, \"No. I don't need your help. I can do it on my own.\"\n\nShe stopped hopping and abruptly frowned." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Her voice was still a whisper although somewhat louder, \"See-this is why I don't like you!\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"I thought you did like me-\"\n\n\"No-I do like you, I like you for Janie, but I don't like that you hide things! Why do you do that?\"\n\nI studied her. Elizabeth's hands were back on her hips and at least she didn't appear angry. She looked hurt. What I knew about Elizabeth I'd learned from Janie; it was obvious that Elizabeth had been taking care of Janie in one way or another since college." }, { "from": "human", "value": "It occurred to me that I might need to modify my approach." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "I licked my lips and glanced towards the door; what I was about to admit would be easier if I didn't have to look at her, \"I'm not used to sharing- information, resources… people.\"\n\nI heard her sigh before she spoke, \"Well, me either. But I love Janie and what is important is her happiness, I want her to be happy-\"\n\n\"You know I love her.\" I growled; the preachy tenure of her words and tone instantly irritated me and my response and resulting glare was perfunctory." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"I know-I know you love her. But,\" she held her hands up between us, her eyes wide and pacifying, her tone softening, \"we have to find a way to get along-you said it yourself.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "She added on a sigh, \"We have to learn to share.\"\n\nI released a slow breath and reluctantly admitted to myself that Elizabeth was right, we had to share Janie. This was the issue. I didn't know how to share her." }, { "from": "human", "value": "I wasn't even sure that I wanted to." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Part of me wanted to stay in bed with her every second of every day and explore her perfect body. There was a ferocity behind the sentiment that still surprised me, caught me off guard. But, I loved her and that meant I needed to do things just because they were good for her, made her happy.\n\n\"Also, you might find that I'm pretty handy to have around.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Elizabeth's mouth curved into a beseeching smile, \"I'm a valuable ally. For example, I am exceptionally good with wound care.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "I allowed a half smile but I knew it didn't quite reach my eyes. I comprehended that befriending Elizabeth was a much better strategy than merely tolerating her.\n\nI rubbed my hand over my face; before I changed my mind, I quickly consented to her interference. \"Ok. Fine.\"\n\n\"Ok? Fine?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "I refocused my attention on the short blonde and found her watching me, her hands clasped together hopefully." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Ok, fine you can help me-\"\n\nA high-pitched squealing sound met my ears and I winced; then, she hugged me. I patted her on the back, hoping to pacify this bit of overzealous effervescence.\n\n\"You won't regret it! Oh my God, I'm so excited-have you picked out a ring?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "I was already regretting it but decided to keep that to myself." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"No. I haven't done anything yet.\" Crossing my arms over my chest I glanced at my watch then at the front door. Janie would be arriving at any minute and I didn't want to be talking about engagement rings with Elizabeth when she showed up.\n\n\"That's ok, I know what she likes. I can help with that-but don't get her a diamond unless it's synthetic because-\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"I know, I know-the atrocities of the African diamond trade. I was, uh, actually thinking about getting her something antique.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Elizabeth glanced up thoughtfully then nodded, \"Yeah, that's a good idea-did you know she really loves rubies?\"\n\nThe question promptly caught my attention. This was actual valuable information, \"No, I didn't know that.\" Maybe Elizabeth could be helpful after all." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Something about the fact that any other color makes the gem a sapphire. But, if it's red, then it's considered a ruby.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "I felt my lips curve into a smile. A ruby would be perfect for Janie.\n\nOur attention was drawn to the front of the shop by the jingling of a bell announcing the entry of a new customer. I knew it was her before I saw her." }, { "from": "human", "value": "It was the most ridiculous thing, but my heart constricted, then expanded as it always did when Janie entered a room." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "I'd come to expect the uncontrolled response but hadn't yet grown accustom to it.\n\nMy feet were carrying me to her before my mind grasped their intention; I was too busy noticing that she was wearing a skirt, which likely meant she was wearing thigh highs with lace at the tops. She knew that drove me crazy. I was already plotting to get her alone so that I could confirm my suspicion." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Also, she was wearing her hair in a bun and I immediately started formulating plans to hide all her hair ties as soon as possible." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "I caught her eye as I approached and, again, my heart lurched when she smiled. Warmth radiated from chest outward and I automatically returned her smile because I had to. I simply did not have a choice.\n\n\"Hey.\" We reached for each other and her soft palm rested on my cheek briefly as she gave me a small kiss." }, { "from": "human", "value": "It wasn't enough. It never seemed to be enough." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "I fought the urge to deepen the shallow contact and stuffed my hands in my pockets. I'd never been one for public displays of affection before. Now, however, I had difficulty keeping my hands off Janie's body regardless of where we were. I also had difficulty concentrating on anything or anyone but her." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Hi.\" She responded, her focus split between me and our surroundings." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Our surroundings finally won the battle for her attention, \"I love this place.\" She breathed the words, like she was in awe.\n\nI watched her spin a slow circle. Her eyes brightened as they took in the dually sparse and cluttered atmosphere." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Why do you love it?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "I wanted to know why, I had a sense that I would enjoy her answer. I knew it would be unexpected and unique. Everything about her was unexpected and unique. She was my bright light of eccentricity in a very predictable and ordinary world." }, { "from": "human", "value": "She made everything new and interesting-or funny." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Janie issued me a skeptical glare. I'm sure she meant it to look distrustful but instead she just looked adorable and gorgeous. \"You're going to make fun of me.\"\n\nI smiled despite myself, something that was becoming very common when we were together." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"I'm not going to make fun of you. I really want to know.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "I reached for her hand, losing the war against restraint, wanting to feel the warmth of her skin against mine, \"Why do you like it here?\"\n\nShe tilted her head, her big hazel eyes moving over my face then meeting mine, I guessed looking for the sincerity of my statement. I wanted to kiss her again but knew that she would never answer the question if I did.\n\n\"It's actually embarrassing and is about my worst-day-ever, which actually turned into one of the best days ever because it was the first time I talked to you-and looked at you in the eye. Did you know that I had a really hard time doing that? Looking at you in the eye-was hard for me-and, in my defense, there are actually a number of cultures where it is a sign of respect, for example-in Japan-school aged children-\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Janie.\" I moved our hands behind her back, drawing her against me." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Why do you love it here?\"\n\nShe blinked, her soft mouth parted. She started to blush. It was devastating and made my pulse quicken." }, { "from": "human", "value": "I used to try to make her blush on purpose." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "I enjoyed flustering her, the way her eyes heated and she would glance at me through her lashes. Janie was brilliant and beautiful. I loved that I seemed to be one of the few who could surprise her enough to elicit an involuntary reaction.\n\nIt's not that Janie was cold; it's that she was naturally aloof." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Whenever I watched her at work or in a group, she seemed to be holding herself apart from the action but it never struck me as purposeful." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "She appeared to be more comfortable watching. Maybe that's why her impulsive reactions were so gratifying.\n\n\"It's the bathroom fixtures.\" She cleared her throat and lifted her chin, meeting my gaze directly, bravely; \"I am a fan of bathrooms. I have found them to be exceptionally good for meditation.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "I couldn't help but laugh, \"Meditation? You meditate in the bathroom?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "She nodded, fighting a smile, \"Well, it's meditation of a sort. I used to wrap all my thoughts up and put them in the box on the shelf in the closet in my head but, recently, I just sit in the bathroom and work through things in there. Something about all the porcelain and tile I think-\" She pulled away from me, glancing over my shoulder, \"Hey-Elizabeth! I didn't know you were already here.\"\n\nHonestly, I'd forgotten Elizabeth was there. I released my hold on Janie and stepped back as she greeted her friend.\n\n\"Yep. Got here a little while ago.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Elizabeth smiled warmly at Janie and hitched a thumb over her shoulder, \"I've been looking at faucets.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Are you done looking? What time is our reservation? Because I wouldn't mind looking around if we have time…\" Janie's hopeful eyes moved between Elizabeth and me; she looked like a NRA member at her first gun show.\n\n\"We have plenty of time, the reservation isn't until six-thirty and we're only ten minutes away.\" I reassured her and won an immediate smile.\n\nElizabeth took Janie by the hand, \"Come look at these, the lever release is really smooth.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "I watched as Janie and Elizabeth approached the row of sink fixtures and fiddled with the knobs, oooohhhing and aaaaahhhhing at intervals." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "I hung back and just studied the pair of them-Janie, tall and perfectly round in all the right places contrasted with Elizabeth's shorter, slimmer form. They were opposites in many ways but interacted with a practiced ease that only time and trusted friendship brings.\n\nWhen they'd exhausted their time and returned to where I stood I was pretending to check my email on my phone. I didn't want to admit in front of her friend that I'd been merely watching her for the last quarter of an hour, enjoying how she moved and her animated expressions." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Also, studying their interaction allowed me to recognize how relaxed Janie was around Elizabeth." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "This friendship meant a great deal to Janie. It meant a great deal to both of them.\n\nI glanced up, met Janie's smile with one of my own, \"Are we ready?\"\n\nJanie nodded, biting her lip, \"I am very ready. I am so hungry I could eat a horse-but not in the demonstration of great wealth way or sacrifice to gods way but in the colloquialism way in which I am stating that I am very hungry.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Elizabeth chuckled at Janie's earnest explanation and caught my gaze." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "She gave me a small smile then, abruptly, narrowed her eyes at me.\n\n\"Uh…\" Elizabeth-suddenly- pulled out the hospital pager from her purse, \"Well-look at that-shoot.\" She looked up at Janie and her expression was apologetic, \"It looks like I won't be able to come to dinner tonight.\" Elizabeth glanced at me briefly then added, \"I guess it's just you two kids tonight.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "One of my eyebrows lifted, as was my habit when I am suspicious of person or situation." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The timing of her page seemed very remarkable and I knew immediately what Elizabeth was doing. She'd just had fifteen minutes of uninterrupted Janie time in a bathroom fixture store. Elizabeth was showing me that she, too, could share Janie by attempting to gracefully bow out of dinner.\n\nJanie frowned, \"That's too bad,\" her gaze flickered to me then back to Elizabeth, the volume of her voice slightly lower, \"I was really hoping that you and Quinn might have a chance to… you know, talk, get to know each other a little better.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "I watched as her blonde friend gave her a soft smile, \"I'll have to take a rain check, I'm sorry. I really have to go.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Elizabeth squeezed Janie's hand then moved toward the door, \"Have a good time!\"\n\nMy lips twisted to the side as Elizabeth moved past me and I gave her a grateful smile which-I was sure-reached my eyes. She issued me a meaningful glare which told me unequivocally: you owe me one.\n\nI nodded to let her know that I understood and that I intended to pay her back." }, { "from": "human", "value": "In fact, I fully intended to exploit Elizabeth's knowledge of Janie's tastes when choosing an engagement ring and planning the proposal." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "My future interactions with Elizabeth would be mutually beneficial and, surprisingly, I was actually looking forward to becoming friends Elizabeth. I was looking forward to how happy it would make Janie.\n\nJanie's sigh pulled my attention back to her and I enveloped her in my arms as the bell jingled on the front door, announcing Elizabeth's departure.\n\n\"That's too bad.\" She snuggled against my chest." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"There will be a next time.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Janie grunted noncommittally then leaned back, catching my eye, \"Did you two talk before I arrived?\"\n\nI nodded.\n\n\"What did you talk about?\"\n\nI titled my head to the side, allowing myself to study her features." }, { "from": "human", "value": "She had a beautiful face, perfect lips, light freckles, big eyes." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The color of her eyes was mossy gold, made me want to write crap poetry and hire a skywriter.\n\n\"Quinn?\"\n\nI blinked at her upturned face, \"Uh-what?\"\n\nShe blushed, glanced at me through her eyelashes, \"I said, what did you two talk about before I arrived?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "I cleared my throat to stall." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "I didn't want to lie, I wasn't going to lie, but I couldn't give her the whole truth. Instead, I settled for what she called selective truth. In this case, I felt completely justified.\n\n\"We were discussing a project of mine. She thought she could help me as she has familiarity with the subject matter.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "I shrugged and surreptitiously started to unwind her hair." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Oh.\" Her eyes moved between mine, searching, and I held her gaze boldly. \"Are you going to let her help?\"\n\nI nodded. \"Yes. She's going to help me. I think it'll be good.\" I succeeded in releasing her hair and felt my body tighten at the image of her-the openness of her expression framed by the mass of wild plumage." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Her smile was slow, delighted, and made my breath catch." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"I am so glad.\"\n\nI considered her for a moment, seriously thought about falling to my knees and proposing right there in the luxury plumbing fixture store on West Lake Street. I looked at this beautiful woman and all I could think was: Want. Mine. Need.\n\nBefore I could make good on the Neanderthal impulse, Janie gave me a quick kiss and stepped out of my arms." }, { "from": "human", "value": "She slid her fingers between mine and tugged me toward the door." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Come on-the sooner we go eat that horse the sooner we can go back to your place.\" Janie's eyebrows wagged-very clumsily-and I allowed her to lead me from the store; admiring her backside, the shape of her legs in the ridiculous stilettos she was wearing, as she pushed open the door.\n\nWe walked down the street toward the restaurant and she held my hand. I was silent because my mind was still racing; the thought of her as my wife overwhelmed me." }, { "from": "human", "value": "I was undeserving of her brilliance and sweetness but I would marry her if she'd have me and I would never let her go." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Hey-\" she poked me in my ribs, \"-why is your face like that?\"\n\nI swallowed the thickness in my throat; my voice sounded raspy to my own ears, \"Like what?\"\n\n\"Like all serious and determined. It's the look you get when you're about to rain down a world of hurt.\"\n\n\"'Rain down a world of hurt'? Where did you pick that up?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "I tilted my head to the side, narrowing my eyes." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"From Steven. We were talking about how you rained down a world of hurt on Olivia last week.\"\n\nIn fact, I'd fired her. I hadn't been gentle either. I had no tolerance for incompetence." }, { "from": "human", "value": "I grimaced, \"She was bad at her job. She needed to go.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"I agree but don't change the subject; why is your face the world of hurt face?\"\n\n\"It's not-it's not.\" I shook my head then pulled her to a stop. My arms encircled her. I pressed her body against mine and kissed her, softly, catching her off guard." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Despite her initial surprise she responded beautifully and allowed me to take what I needed-her warmth and blind acceptance." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Except, she wasn't bind. She was smart. She knew all my secrets. She loved me anyway.\n\nI pulled away, just far enough so that her eyes were in focus." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Her lashes fluttered open and she gazed at me, trusting, happy." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "My voice was a growl, \"I love you.\"\n\nShe smiled. \"I know.\"\n\nI released a slow breath and lost myself in her mossy gold eyes, \"I don't deserve you.\"\n\nShe licked her lips, her gaze lowering to my mouth, and her smile widened, \"Oh, you deserve me.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "She nodded, her eyes moving back to mine, \"You've made me fearless.\"" }, { "from": "system", "value": "Next message should be approximately 5 sentences." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "It was a confession and I felt it like a heavy weight in my chest. I wanted to give her a confession too. I swallowed with effort then brushed my lips over hers. My words were a whisper that only she could hear.\n\n\"And you make me a good guy.\"" } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Provide four sentences as a continuation." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Max studied the face peering up at him." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "It was a beige alien, one from a species he recognized from the law enforcement ship. It had dark lavender lips with wide, purpley stripes on the face. It made a high-pitched sing-song cry and the translator said, \"Demand information.\" Max assumed that meant \"what?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Rick pulled back, but Max tightened his grip on Rick's tentacle." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"I want to trade.\"\n\nThe alien at the door peered up at Max and stretched his long neck to stare at Rick. \"Not trading.\"\n\nMax turned and took Rick's computer out of his tentacle. If this trader didn't want the program, he wouldn't have opened the door." }, { "from": "human", "value": "So he wanted to be talked into this." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Max needed the right words. \"This program is worth money. Compensation. Profit.\" Max wasn't sure if the words were getting across because the trader stared blankly. But he hadn't slammed the door yet." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Rick slipped a tentacle under the waistband of Max's pants, but Max didn't dare break eye contact with the trader—not even to tell Rick to stop molesting him." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The trader stood straighter, stretching out to his full five-feet-high. After he looked around the street behind Max, his gaze settled on Rick. \"Behind,\" he said in a screeching voice, and then he retreated into his shop and the door closed with a sharp snap.\n\nMax blew out a breath and turned to Rick. \"That went well.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Rick tilted his head to the side." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"I question your use of language.\"\n\n\"So did my English teacher,\" Max admitted. \"So, where is the back door on this place?\"\n\n\"Suggestion. We return to the ship.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Rick tugged at Max's wrist." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The rainbow of aliens walking past them represented every color and a huge range of sizes, but all of them were united in being assholes to Rick's people. And here he had believed Roddenberry's promise that space and the future would be better. At least he didn't have to battle any Borg. \"Would Darth Vader return to the ship?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Max asked. When all else failed, he found Rick reacted well when Max appealed to Rick's favorite sith." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "And Vader never retreated.\n\n\"He would hire for compensation to build poorly engineered war machine,\" Rick said. \"I lack funds of compensation and would avoid Death Star death.\" He tightened his hold on Max's wrist." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Right.\" Max couldn't fault the logic." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Suggestion. We find the back entrance and sell your program.\"\n\nRick's tentacles twitched, but he started walking away. \"Darth Vader failed in quality-checking death machines.\"\n\n\"I agree. One really good engineer could have fixed most of his problems.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"One good engineer created problems. The Hidden People welcome Galen Erso as good at hiding.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Rick waved a couple of smaller tentacles.\n\nMax wasn't sure how one person could have both Galen Erso and Darth Vader as personal heroes, but then no one was perfect. If that was Rick's worst trait, Max would survive. Rick led them through an arched opening into some sort of covered walk or alley." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Grates ran along the sides of the walk." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Rick turned down another alley, this one larger. Almost no one was around and vehicles glided along rails without any drivers. So this was for deliveries.\n\n\"Current action causes distress.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Max stopped. \"I don't want to push you to do something you don't want to.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Rick moved closer. \"You do not exert force or pressure on me.\"\n\n\"If you want to go back to the ship, you should go back.\"\n\nRick rotated a quarter turn. \"Query. Do you wish to return to ship?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Max sighed. He felt like he was reliving the same fight he'd had with every boyfriend he'd ever dated." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "What do you want to do? I don't know; what do you want to do? One of the levels of hell was full of people refusing to express an opinion. But at the same time, Max was tempted to start that circle jerk of uncertainty." }, { "from": "human", "value": "He wanted to give Rick room to make his own mind up." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"I want to sell your program for fair compensation. I can request compensation without you coming with me.\"\n\n\"Clarify. You cannot. You fail providing required information regarding technical specifications.\"\n\nThat was probably true. Max sighed. \"We can go back to the ship.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Query. Do you wish to return to ship?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Rick traced lines on Max's arm.\n\n\"No,\" Max admitted, even though he felt guilty about saying it. He was an asshole for pushing Rick. Max had avoided marching for gay rights, so it felt hypocritical to metaphorically shove Rick out of the asymmetrical closet." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"As you tell offspring, I reserve right to call you polonium-headed poopy face.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Rick walked down the alley, his largest arm tentacle still around Max's wrist.\n\n\"I am not a poop face,\" Max protested.\n\n\"Potentiality of poopy face exists,\" Rick said. Once again, his logic was on point." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Rick stopped in front of a door." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Entrance to back for delivering of supplies.\"\n\n\"Clarify. Service entrance.\" Max stepped in front of the door and waited. The trader probably had surveillance, so now they could only wait; hope that he was curious enough about the program to open the door; pray that this scheme wasn't illegal or if it was, that they didn't get caught. Max was starting to regret his decision to avoid the criminal database." }, { "from": "human", "value": "After several minutes, the service door was flung open and the short trader stood in the opening." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He sang loudly, and once again, his translator barked out, \"Demand information.\"\n\n\"I want to sell you a computer program for navigation.\" Max took a deep breath and tried to ignore the flush of adrenaline that made his heart pound. Rick's tentacle tightened around his wrist." }, { "from": "human", "value": "The trader frowned at Max and then Rick and back again." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Species of you is inferior in navigation.\"\n\nOnce again, Max had found a logical alien. \"The program is superior.\"\n\nThe trader made a shrill whistle that ended in a three-note trill that repeated several times." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Max got the feeling he'd been cursed out by a flute." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Superior but ugly not traded.\"\n\n\"You can profit from trade without seeing ugly,\" Max said. That was a generality, but he didn't trust the translation computer with any sort of nuanced suggestion.\n\nRick spoke up, but the translator only caught about every third word." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Husband.... Computer program.... Others peoples.... Compensation.... Others peoples.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The nouns were separated by burps and rumbles that made the trader stand taller with each passing second. Apparently Max had not done a good job of programming the translation computer with vocabulary related to conning people. However, the trader's gaze was darting back and forth like a spectator at a tennis match where both competitors had been dipping into the meth stash.\n\nWhen Rick finished, the trader said, \"Come,\" and retreated into his shop." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Max traded looks with Rick and then they both followed." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"What did you tell him?\" Max asked.\n\n\"Max lacks sense that moron species would possess.\"\n\nMax snorted. That was probably true, but he still doubted Rick had said it, at least not to someone outside the family. When the offspring and Max ganged up to declare a water war on Rick, he said that and worse." }, { "from": "human", "value": "They followed the trader through shelving lined with numbered boxes into a room that resembled Rick's computer room." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Business communication facilitator.\" The trader poked a long, boned finger toward a bright blue control unit.\n\nRick set his computer down on a ledge clearly built for it and tiny wires rose from the surface. Dozens slid into the cracks in the sides of the tablet. Hopefully that was normal." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Rick didn't seem bothered, and he was very protective of it." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Rick reached a tentacle toward Max. \"We can communicate more easily now.\"\n\nGone was the broken English, the almost right word choices, the awkward phrasing.\n\n\"What the hell happened with the translation computer?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Official translator functions as a business communication facilitator,\" the trader said." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Database is right that you are from species of morons who cannot leave their planet. You didn't make current navigation program.\" Max heard the anger in the computer-generated voice.\n\nIgnoring the trader, Rick answered Max's question. \"Every linguistic database in the known universe is entered, so the computer has a large enough sample to compare a new language against linguistically similar samples. Every species donates to one system. No one can tamper with one system. Only buy a license to use it.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Rick's voice still sounded like Rick—like the tones Max had assigned him on the translation computer." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "However, now the emotional content of the words was clear. Rick had a softness to his voice that his loud belches and rumbles hid and the computer voice had—up until this point—been missing. Max smiled. \"It's impressive. I'm surprised no one has stolen the programming.\" Max was already wondering if he could scam someone out of a copy." }, { "from": "human", "value": "The trader interrupted, and the computer translated his impatient tone." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Programming can't be accessed or reproduced by examining externally various systems and their functions.\"\n\nWith one last smile for Rick, Max turned his attention back to the trader. \"We call that reverse engineering. We look at the function and attempt to recreate the process. However, I don't know how you would stop someone from trying to create their own version.\"\n\n\"People try to create one, but they don't have access to facilitator's linguistic database,\" the trader said." }, { "from": "human", "value": "He stepped up onto a platform so he was as tall as Rick, but he was still several inches shorter than Max." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"If your people know to reverse engineer, then you have more technical sophistication than database suggests.\" He sounded suspicious.\n\n\"And what does the database suggest?\" Max gave the trader his most charming smile.\n\nThe trader made another flute whistle." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"It says you are simple, non-spacefaring race with limited intellectual capacity and almost no skills. It says the larger of the two known humans in civilized territory took job doing surrogate work for Ugly People.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Max's stomach knotted. Two. Who the hell else was running around the universe? Max wanted to ask, but he had an obligation to Rick first, and he would look for the other humans as soon as he taught these assholes a little respect. \"Not Ugly People,\" he said firmly." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"The Hidden People. And my people have a great respect for surrogates and an emotional attachment to children that should not be underestimated.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Clarify,\" the trader demanded.\n\n\"If someone touches the children I surrogate for, the children I have helped raise, I am very likely to take a sharp object and remove one or two tentacles,\" Max warned.\n\n\"He killed pirates who were Hunters,\" Rick added.\n\nThe trader touched his computer." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"I should add violent to database.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Max stepped forward quickly enough that the trader flinched away and fell off his stupid little platform. \"I wouldn't say my people are violent by nature, but we certainly have an ability to defend what's ours. That's why I will not allow someone to cheat us on the price of this navigation program.\"\n\n\"The program is not yours.\"\n\n\"It is mine,\" Rick said." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"We are husbands, so we share resources. It is, therefore, his.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Demonstrate worth of this program,\" the trader demanded.\n\nRick manipulated his tablet's screen and code flashed on the main screen on the facilitator. The trader moved closer. He had tentacles that ended in long, boned fingers that he ran along the screen as he read the code." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"This is exceptional level of sophistication.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Rick shrank as his leg tentacle curved. It wasn't a curl, but it was close. Max moved to his side, although he wasn't sure why the compliment would upset Rick.\n\n\"You could make excellent profit from that,\" Max said." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"I cannot buy work of one Ugly, Hidden People.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Rick straightened. \"I have not registered my work.\"\n\n\"So I can be the seller of record,\" Max said. They needed a desperate trader for this step. Apparently the universe took copyright very seriously, so they needed someone to buy the program and help register the program to Max." }, { "from": "human", "value": "The trader moved around Max, giving him a wide berth." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He stopped in front of Rick. \"What would inspire you to offer without registering your work on program?\"\n\nRick rose to his full height. \"My faith in my husband. If you were to take what is mine, he would do great harm. He has killed.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Max cringed. That was not where he had wanted the conversation to go." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "However, Max had to back his play. The only way to get this guy to help was to convince him that he could make a good profit and that Max and Rick would take his secret to the grave. That required a united front. \"If you try to steal Rick's program, I will take a very sharp object and shove it into a very tender body part. But, we have a proposition for you. One that might make us both wealthy.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"My continued ability to earn compensation requires that I not trade with Ugly, Hidden People. They have angered most of universe by claiming territories behind their world, territories they don't have right to.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"We do not claim,\" Rick protested. \"We wish you not to fly through our space. We only prevent you from doing that.\"\n\n\"And that prevents people from reaching space behind your world. To navigate around requires extraordinary time. You know this.\" The trader turned to Max." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Do you understand how his people anger other peoples?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "This asshole was trying to drive a wedge between them. He was playing a con of his own. At least, that was what Max would have assumed if a human was trying to split a partnership. Max leaned against the computer and rested his hand on his weapon." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"My people would congratulate him. In fact, we do tend to claim territory preemptively, sometimes when someone else is already standing on it. Don't look for me to get upset because the rest of the universe can't figure out how to get around their security system.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The trader whistled, and the computer translated with a whispered, \"Fuck you.\" He then spoke louder. \"I will not trade with Hidden, Ugly People. If I do, I will not have any customers. I need compensation beyond one trade.\"\n\n\"But what if your customers didn't know that a product came from one of the Hidden People? What if they believe the product came from a previously underestimated species that had been grossly misunderstood?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Max smiled and tapped the screen on Rick's tablet." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"You are not genius to create this.\"\n\n\"We could tell people I was.\"\n\n\"That would be untruthful.\"\n\n\"I'm okay telling a lie, especially when the people I'm lying to have mistreated my husband.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Max held his breath." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "This was it. Either this trader helped him or he threw them out. Or he reported them, and what they were attempting to do was illegal. That was a possibility.\n\nThe trader looked at each of them, but his gaze settled on Max." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"You wish to lie to entire universe.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Yep.\"\n\nAnother fluting curse followed, but this time the computer didn't translate it. Max waited as the trader seemed to debate with himself. Rick slid to Max's side and wrapped a tentacle around Max's waist." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"You have a square head,\" Rick said softly." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "It took Max a second to realize Rick had called him polonium-headed, although he had been nice enough to leave out the poop reference.\n\n\"Other traders will not believe moron species can write this,\" the trader said.\n\nHe wanted to do this. Max gave a verbal push." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"I bet you could convince them.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"No.\" The trader curled his fingers into a fist. \"I desire the power to lie to others, but there will be too many questions. I cannot answer questions.\"\n\n\"I can,\" Max said. \"With Rick's help at least. If you work with me, I can convince your customers that I created this, and then you can pay me full price.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "The room went silent." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Rick didn't give a single burp, but his tentacles were drawn up into curled balls. That sent arrows of guilt straight to Max's gut, but he was doing this for Rick, so he ignored the feeling. Instead, he focused on the trader. They needed the man's connections, and they needed help setting up this scheme; however, whether he would help was up in the air." } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "The user will write a bit then you need to write around 4 sentences continuing directly from the user's text. Try to mimic the style of Jacqueline Carey.Produce 4 sentences using the prose and structure of Jacqueline Carey every time its your turn using what the user wrote as a seed." }, { "from": "human", "value": "The house was perfect." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "As Balthasar had said, it was situated on the outskirts of the City of Elua—a modest dwelling surrounded by trees, many of them evergreens. I strolled the grounds, inhaling deeply.\n\nBao regarded me fondly. \"Have you been missing your wilderness?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"I have,\" I admitted, resting one hand on the rough bark of a graceful cypress tree. \"But this helps.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Once inside, I was surprised to find that the house came equipped with elegant furnishings, as well as a staff that was modest by D'Angeline standards, but extravagant by mine—a steward, a cook, two maidservants, a footman, and a groom.\n\n\"We are here to serve at a moment's notice should any of the House wish to entertain here.\" The steward, Guillaume Norbert, was a grave fellow with silver-grey hair tied back in a severe braid, but he unbent enough to offer a faint smile. \"Now we are here to serve at your pleasure, madame.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "I hoped I had sufficient funds to pay their wages." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "As though reading my mind, the steward gave a discreet cough. \"Of course, Lady Celestine has ordered all relevant details of our service to be directed to her factor.\"\n\n\"That's... very generous,\" I said.\n\nThere was quiet pride in his face, in the faces of all the household staff." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"I am pleased that you think so.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Moirin?\" Bao's voice came from another room. He sounded strange.\n\n\"Aye?\"\n\n\"Come see.\"\n\nGuillaume Norbert arched his brows." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"I believe messire has found the seraglio.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "I found Bao in a sumptuous room beyond the far doors of the dining hall, covered with Akkadian carpets, strewn with cushions, and outfitted with many of the accoutrements of violent love-play the Shahrizai favored, including a tall, glass-fronted case that displayed an array of whips and paddles, and a tall wooden wheel equipped with four leather manacles.\n\nBao spun the wheel. \"Huh.\"\n\n\"Does messire desire a demonstration?\" the steward inquired with perfect equanimity, beckoning to the younger of the two maidservants." }, { "from": "human", "value": "She stepped forward willingly." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"No!\" Bao backed away from the wheel. \"No, messire does not.\" He eyed me uncertainly. \"Does he?\"\n\n\"No.\" I reached out to halt the wheel's spinning. \"I think not.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "The steward Guillaume inclined his head." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Shall I have these items removed, madame?\"\n\n\"No.\" I gazed at the weathered wood and the leather manacles, wondering who had worn them and what pleasures they had found in it. \"Let them stay for now. It is a part of the house's history.\"\n\n\"As you will.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "There was one item I did ask to have removed—an iron hook that hung on a chain from the highest rafter of the master bedchamber." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "What it had been used for, I could not even begin to guess, but I felt better for having it gone.\n\nAfter that, Bao and I settled quite comfortably into our new lodgings. As expected, the news of House Shahrizai's patronage caused ripples in the City of Elua; but overall the tide of fortune continued to turn in our favor.\n\nFirst and foremost came a message of support from the Cruarch of Alba." }, { "from": "human", "value": "I had never met Faolan mab Sibeal, the Cruarch of Alba." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "But he had a name for being a strong, just ruler; and he was a kinsman, a descendant of Alais the Wise. His message was brief but succinct, thanking and congratulating King Daniel for making a choice that acknowledged the shared heritage and long-standing history that lay between Alba and Terre d'Ange.\n\n\"How?\" I asked when I heard the news, glad but bewildered. \"I thought the Straits were impassable in the winter!\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"They are for ships.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Bao's eyes glinted. \"But Naamah's temples use doves to carry messages. You didn't know?\"\n\nI shook my head. \"I did not.\"\n\n\"They say at Eglantine House that the monarchs of both realms have tried to duplicate the feat,\" Bao offered. \"Without success. The doves fly only for priests of Naamah's Order.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "My father confirmed it when I met with him the following day." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Oh, yes,\" he said. \" 'Tis an art honed over the centuries. We thought the Cruarch ought to know.\"\n\nHe looked tired to me, more tired than he ought. \"We?\" I asked.\n\n\"Naamah's Order, yes.\" My father gave me a faint smile. There were dark smudges beneath his green, green eyes." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"I had the honor of playing a part in the decision.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"That must not have sat well with his grace the Royal Minister,\" I said softly.\n\nMy father didn't deny it. \"My lord Rogier is... concerned... that the orders of the priesthood have involved themselves in politics. First Eisheth's Order, and now Naamah's.\" He knuckled his eyes and yawned." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"But we discussed it into the small hours of the night, and I believe he understands that this is a courtesy we felt compelled to extend to the Cruarch, not some nefarious plot to undermine his influence.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "I touched his crimson sleeve. \"I'm sorry. I never meant to put you in an awkward situation.\"\n\nHis gaze cleared. \"Nor did you, Moirin. It's nothing, I promise.\" He changed the subject." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"So tell me, how are the plans for Eglantine House's spectacle progressing? Everyone in the City is perishing of curiosity.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "I laughed. \"I've no idea. Bao's taken to being almighty secretive about the entire thing. All I know is that he's consulting with the master of props to devise somewhat he claims has never been seen in Terre d'Ange. And if Bao's boasting, like as not he'll make good on his claim.\"\n\nMy father smiled. \"I rather like that young man.\"\n\n\"He rather likes you,\" I said. \"I think you may have been the first D'Angeline he did like. I certainly wasn't.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "He laughed, too. \"Well, he's more than changed his mind on that score. You've done well together, the two of you.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "His expression turned serious. \"I'm very proud of the way you've dealt with this business, Moirin. You've handled it with grace and thoughtfulness.\"\n\nI kissed his cheek. \"Thank you. It means a good deal to me to know you think so.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"I do,\" he affirmed." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Plans continued apace, secretive and otherwise.\n\nBenoit Vallon summoned Bao and me to Atelier Favrielle for a fitting. Like all his work, the wardrobe he had created for Bao was elegant in its simplicity: close-fitting black breeches that tucked into boots, and creamy white shirts that lay open at the neck, with a bare minimum of ruffle at the cuff. He'd sewn the black-and-white magpie square onto the back of a black velvet coat that fell to knee-length, also fitted, but loose enough to permit freedom of movement." }, { "from": "human", "value": "It looked D'Angeline, but it spoke of Ch'in, too." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"I like it,\" Bao said decisively, examining himself in the mirror and adjusting his cuffs. \"I like it very much. Moirin?\"\n\n\"You look splendid,\" I assured him.\n\nHe preened. \"I do, don't I?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "For me, the couturiere had created a series of gowns in deep jewel-toned hues: emerald, ruby, amethyst." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He had used the sari fabric as subtle accents to complement the gowns, hints of their ornate richness revealed in the borders and linings. I had to own, it was a clever usage, though I was glad I'd kept a few back.\n\n\"This is what you will wear to the oath-swearing ceremony, my lady,\" Benoit announced, a gown of pale gold brocade fabric over his arm.\n\nIt was the piece on which he had used the square of embroidered bamboo, cutting it apart and reassembling it as a high collar that framed my face." }, { "from": "human", "value": "The green and gold silk harmonized surprisingly well with the gold brocade." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Very nice.\" Benoit fussed with the collar. \"You see the effect it creates? As though you are rising from a bamboo grove like some... some exotic young goddess.\" He scowled uncertainly at my reflection. \"Are you angry that I did not keep the square intact?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "It was the first time I'd ever heard him sound nervous." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"No, Messire Vallon,\" I said. \"It's beautiful.\"\n\nHis scowl vanished. \"Ah, good! My thought was to use both pieces in a symbolic manner.\" He laid one hand on Bao's shoulder. \"The magpie square represents the love of your distant mother, spread across your shoulders like a protective cloak. And this...\" He traced the line of my bamboo-embroidered collar." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"This represents the embrace of your distant sister, placing her arms around your neck.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "My breath caught in my throat as I thought of Bao's mother and sister; so far away, so briefly met. It was unlikely we'd ever see them again. \"Oh, that's lovely! Thank you, Messire Vallon.\"\n\nBao nodded, his eyes bright with unshed tears." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Very lovely. Thank you for honoring them.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Benoit Vallon's scowl returned. \"Oh, now! If you want to thank me, you'll grant me an invitation to the ceremony.\" He gave a loud sniff. \"I'd rather not have to take my chances on the lottery like the common rabble.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "I smiled at him." }, { "from": "system", "value": "Your next one should be approximately 2 sentences." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"I will see that an invitation is delivered on the morrow, Messire Vallon.\"\n\nHe gave another resounding sniff. \"Good.\"" } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "I'll be your writing partner today. I will set the scene, and you will continue the story with 4 sentences, channeling the voice and techniques of Jacqueline Carey.i'll kick things off by writing a bit, then you'll take over and write the next 4 sentences in the distinctive voice of Jacqueline Carey.Ive got a bit of writers block, im gonna send you something then keep it going 4 sentences at a time, also im going for a Jacqueline Carey sorta thing." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Winter in Terre d'Ange." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "It was long, and it was cold. Even so, it was a good time. Thanks to good counsel, a considerable measure of hard work, and the support of the priestly orders, Bao and I had won the battle in the court of public opinion. We were well liked by many, and with the deed done and my oath sworn, those who had spoken against it ceased their grumbling." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Desirée continued to flourish under the firm, tender care of Sister Gemma and the tutelage of Aimée Girard." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Bao continued to study with her on a daily basis. King Daniel paid more attention to his daughter, making a point of visiting her at least twice a week.\n\nThanks to the largesse of House Shahrizai, we settled into a comfortable routine in our borrowed home, and began to entertain visitors like Balthasar Shahrizai, whose company Bao enjoyed, and Lianne Tremaine, for whom I had come to feel a certain prickly fondness.\n\nIt was a good time." }, { "from": "human", "value": "The Longest Night drew nigh." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Benoit Vallon devised costumes for Bao and me, deciding that we should attend the Midwinter Masque in the guise of Hades, the Hellene god of the dead, and his bride Persephone.\n\n\"I'm not usually so literal, but it seems apt,\" he said, framing Bao with his hands. \"I'm not sure why.\"\n\nAs with everything the couturier did, the costumes were lovely." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Bao made a grave Hellene deity in robes adorned with sparkling jet, a wreath of iron laurels on his head." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "My gown was green and gilt for spring, and my hair was crowned with a wreath of gold.\n\nWe attended the royal masque with her young highness, who was dressed as a winter sprite in a frothy white gown with a pair of charming gauze wings.\n\nI had to own, the taste of joie and the sight of the great hall filled with massive pine trees shimmering with glass icicles evoked memories that made my heart ache. \"Did you know it was your mother who first thought to decorate the hall with trees on the Longest Night?\" I asked Desirée." }, { "from": "human", "value": "She shook her head, gazing up at a towering specimen. \"Truly?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Oh, yes.\" I brushed the fragrant green needles with one finger. \"She did it just to please me.\"\n\n\"What did she wear?\" she inquired.\n\nI smiled. \"White, just like you." }, { "from": "human", "value": "She was dressed as the Snow Queen, with a white cloak trimmed with ermine." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "And after the pageant when the lights were rekindled, tumblers from Eglantine House came and begged her to come to the Night Court. Every year, they would come, and every year, your mother refused. But that year your father told her she should go, and take me with her, since I'd never seen the Night Court's masque.\n\nThere was a yearning to hear more in her gaze. \"Did you go?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"We did,\" I said." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"And when the night was over, we went up to the rooftop terrace to watch dawn break, your mother and I and all the beautiful adepts of the Night Court, none of whom were as beautiful as she was. It was cold, very cold, and your mother wrapped her ermine cloak around me to keep me warm.\"\n\n\"I bet that's not all she did,\" Bao commented in the Ch'in scholar's tongue. I chose to ignore him.\n\n\"I wish I could have known her,\" Desirée said in a wistful tone." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"I know, dear heart.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "I stroked her fair hair. \"She wished it, too. Do you know what we did the very next day?\"\n\n\"What?\"\n\n\"We rode in a carriage to a Temple of Eisheth called the Sanctuary of the Womb,\" I told her." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"There's a hot-spring pool with water as warm as a bath, and as white as milk. And there, your mother waded into the pool and lit a candle to Eisheth, praying that the goddess would send her a child. You.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Desirée slid her hand into mine. \"I'm glad you were there, Moirin.\"\n\nI gave her hand a gentle squeeze. \"So am I.\"\n\nShe searched the bright hall." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"My father isn't here tonight, is he?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"No.\" I shook my head. \"His grace the Duc de Barthelme, the Royal Minister, is here in his stead.\"\n\n\"Because it makes my father sad to remember?\" she asked.\n\n\"Aye.\" I swallowed against a sudden lump in my throat." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"I'm afraid so. But there is joy in remembering, too. That's why I shared my memories with you tonight, so that you might share my gladness.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Together, we watched the peers of the realm in their gorgeous, glittering costumes mingle and dance. Sister Gemma hovered in the background, ready to intervene if Desirée grew tired and fretful.\n\nThe Duc de Barthelme came to pay his respects to the princess. \"Joy to you on the Longest Night, young highness,\" the Royal Minister said, offering her a formal bow." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Is the ranking member of the royal family here in attendance enjoying herself?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Somewhat about his choice of words made my skin prickle, and I caught Bao frowning.\n\n\"Oh, yes!\" Desirée said politely. \"Thank you.\"\n\nHe inclined his head to me. \"I see you take your duties seriously, Lady Moirin.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"I do,\" I said, laying a hand on Desirée's shoulder." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"But it is also a pleasure to see the Longest Night through fresh, unspoiled eyes.\" I held his gaze. \"I recall Prince Thierry saying much the same thing to me.\"\n\nThe Royal Minister's eyelids flickered briefly, and I thought to myself that Duc Rogier did not care to be reminded that I had the favor of more than one member of the royal family; and one who would be returning to a position of influence come spring." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Still, his expression remained pleasant." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"No doubt.\" He turned back to Desirée. \"Do you plan to stay all the way until the pageant, young highness? It will be quite late, you know.\"\n\nShe nodded vigorously. \"Oh, yes! I had a very long nap.\"\n\nHe smiled. \"Well, then, I will be sure you have a chance to meet the Sun Prince himself. Would you enjoy that?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "She nodded again, eyes sparkling with excitement. \"Yes, thank you!\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"The pleasure is mine.\" Duc Rogier gave her another bow and a wink. \"I think you will like him. I certainly do.\"\n\nIt was an odd exchange." }, { "from": "human", "value": "We did not speak of it in Desirée's presence, but it weighed on my thoughts as we plundered the banquet table heaped high with delicacies." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "I didn't know what this business with the Sun Prince was about, and it seemed strange that Duc Rogier had made such a deliberate point of noting Desirée's rank. I had assumed that his resentment of my appointment as her oath-sworn protector had to do with the fact that it was an honor of which he felt me unworthy, and one he had desired for himself, but mayhap there was more to it.\n\nDesirée de la Courcel was a Princess of the Blood, and in Thierry's absence, her father's heir. Whoever wielded influence over the choices she made in life might one day affect the course of the realm." }, { "from": "human", "value": "That, I'd never considered." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Stone and sea, I just wanted the poor child to have a measure of happiness.\n\nAlthough her eyelids were growing heavy, the young princess did indeed manage to stay awake and alert through the pageant. We all cried out when the horologist called the hour, the Winter Queen in her crone guise hobbled into the center of the room, and almost every lamp and candle in the great hall was extinguished, plunging the hall into darkness.\n\nThen came the pounding on the doors, and the Sun Prince in his chariot drawn by a pair of matched white horses rode into the hall, gleaming in his gilded armor and sunburst mask." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Servants with lit tapers waited poised next to intricate series of braided wicks." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The Sun Prince leapt from his chariot with a lithe twist, pointing his gilded spear at the crone.\n\nEveryone cheered as she threw off her ragged robes and crone mask to reveal herself as a young, beautiful maiden. The servants lit the wicks, and light was restored to the world. The royal pair mounted the chariot, wherein it was evident that she overtopped him by a head." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"He's kind of puny for a Sun Prince,\" Bao whispered to me." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "I hushed him, although I was thinking the same thing.\n\nThe chariot made a circuit of the hall, stopping before us. The Sun Prince leapt down once more, going to one knee before Desirée.\n\n\"Joy to her highness on the Longest Night!\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "he cried, taking her small hand and pressing his lips to it." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Overwhelmed, she tried in vain to stifle a giggle.\n\n\"And here we are,\" Duc Rogier announced with pride, coming alongside them. The Sun Prince raised his gilded mask, revealing a handsome, youthful face. He couldn't have been much more than thirteen or fourteen years old." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Your highness, may I present my eldest son, Tristan.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The lad rose and bowed, smiling at her. \"Well met, my lady. I hope we will see more of each other, but for now, I fear duty beckons.\"\n\nWith that, the shining Sun Prince returned to his chariot and his rather irritated-looking Winter Queen. They exited the hall to cheers, with an underlying murmur of speculation." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Desirée gazed after them in awe." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "I looked at the Royal Minister. \"I thought your family preferred to remain in Barthelme, my lord.\"\n\nHe gave a graceful shrug. \"I changed my mind. I thought it was time Tristan began learning the ways of the Court, so I sent for him to winter here. Besides, it will be good for her highness to have some younger folk here at the Palace, don't you think? I hear she's quite precocious, and her tutor is very skilled. Mayhap they can take lessons together.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Your son is at least ten years older than her,\" Bao said in a flat tone." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"And you considerably more, Messire Bao,\" the Duc observed. \"Yet you appear to benefit from it. Young highness, would you like Tristan to study with you?\"\n\nHer cheeks were pink with pleasure. \"Yes, my lord!\"\n\n\"Well, then.\" Rogier Courcel smiled at all of us." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"It seems the matter is settled.\"" }, { "from": "system", "value": "Your next one should be approximately 1 sentence." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "I smiled back at him. \"So it does.\"" } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Provide four sentences as a continuation." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Terre d'Ange mourned." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Everywhere in the City of Elua, swags of black crepe were draped over doorways. The trunk of Elua's Oak was swathed in it. Folk gathered in taverns and wineshops, in each other's homes, offering comfort to one another. No one wanted to be alone." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Bao and I spent a great deal of time with Desirée." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "If the news of her brother's death had sent her into paroxysms of grief, her father's suicide had an even worse effect. Somewhat inside her shut down, and she was near as lifeless as a doll.\n\nI asked my father what was to become of the realm.\n\n\"Parliament will convene after the funeral to appoint a regent until the princess gains her majority,\" he said soberly." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Since Duc Rogier's done a fine job as Royal Minister, odds are they'll select him.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "It was what I feared. \"Father, they can't!\"\n\nHe stared at me. \"Why ever not?\"\n\n\"Because the King was going to replace him.\" I told him what I knew." }, { "from": "human", "value": "When I had finished, he closed his eyes for a long time." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"I'm sorry!\" I whispered in anguish. \"I know you care for him.\"\n\n\"I do,\" he murmured. \"But if what you're telling me is true... it should at least be taken into account.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"What do we do?\" I asked him." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "My father sighed. \"You'll have to petition to address Parliament, Moirin. And I warn you, they will not want to hear what you have to say, and you'll earn his grace's enmity in the bargain.\" He ran a hand over his face. \"Think well on it. Rogier may be more ambitious than I reckoned, but he's a good man at heart.\"\n\n\"Is his son?\" I asked." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Because that's who he's aiming to put on the throne. That's who he'd see betrothed to Desirée.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He fell silent for a time. \"I don't know. Just... think on it.\"\n\nMy diadh-anam flickered. \"I will,\" I said. \"But I may not have a choice. I'm oath-bound.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"I know.\" He took my hand." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"And I will stand by you, no matter what you decide.\"\n\nThree days after the King's death, a joint funeral service for Daniel and Thierry de la Courcel was held at the great Temple of Elua. Bao and I rode in the royal carriage with Desirée, Duc Rogier, and his son.\n\nAll throughout the streets of the City, folk turned out to share their grief, weeping openly and calling out blessings on the young princess." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Desirée stared straight ahead without responding, clad in a black gown that made her translucent skin look ghostly pale." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "A delicate crown of gold filigree sat atop her fair hair. I held her hand and whispered words of comfort to her.\n\nDuc Rogier acknowledged the mourners with solemn nods. Young Tristan looked grave and noble, bending forward from time to time to pat Desirée's other hand." }, { "from": "human", "value": "She gazed at him with listless eyes." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "I remembered how she had sparkled at the tumblers' performance the day of the oath-swearing ceremony, how his majesty had reached out to her and helped her throw the bouquet at Antoine nó Eglantine's feet, and I wanted to weep.\n\nFor Desirée's sake, I didn't.\n\nBao gave me a miserable glance over the top of her crowned head, understanding.\n\nAt the temple, we removed our shoes and stockings in the vestibule and proceeded into the garden sanctum." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Directed by priests and priestesses, we took our place at the base of the plinth on which the effigy of Blessed Elua stood." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "A seemingly endless throng of mourning peers followed us, jostling for position. Exchanging complicit nods with the royal guardsmen in attendance, Bao took a protective stance beside Desirée, leaning on his bamboo staff. Somehow, they'd gotten word of his prowess.\n\nOnce the sanctum was full and the doors to the temple had been barred, the senior Priest of Elua who had presided over the oath-swearing ceremony gave the invocation." }, { "from": "human", "value": "It was earnest and heartfelt, reminding the crowd of all the tragic losses House Courcel had suffered over the years, and it reduced well nigh the entire crowd to tears—including me." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Although I managed to keep from sobbing aloud, this time I couldn't stop the tears from falling.\n\nI couldn't help it.\n\nWhen he was done, Duc Rogier spoke. \"They were kin,\" he said simply." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"And I loved them both very much. Prince Thierry for his unfailing good nature, his boundless spirit of adventure. King Daniel for his vast, gentle heart, and his gracious manner. And today I am angry at the gods for allowing their best qualities to destroy them.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "A murmur ran through the crowd.\n\nThe priest raised one hand for silence. \"The gods understand.\"\n\n\"I hope they do.\" Duc Rogier Courcel de Barthelme turned to glance at Blessed Elua's effigy." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"While I am not a member of House Courcel proper, I am descended from it. I bear the Courcel name, as do all the members of House Barthelme.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He bowed in Desirée's direction. There were tears in his eyes, but the line of his jaw was set and firm. \"I was your brother's oath-sworn protector, young majesty, not yours. But I swear to you today, I will do all in my power to keep further sorrow from touching House Courcel.\"\n\n\"As will I!\" Tristan called in a ringing voice. \"I promise, Desirée!\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "It was well received—and it made me angry." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The worst part of it was that I didn't doubt the Duc's grief was sincere. But it was still a piece of theater. He was willing to use his grief and the plight of a royal orphan to further his own ends.\n\nAt least it dried my tears." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Moirin, don't glower,\" Bao murmured to me." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"You can't afford to lose sympathy.\"\n\nI gritted my teeth. \"I am trying!\"\n\nDesirée tugged at my hand. \"What's wrong, Moirin? Are you angry at the gods, too?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "It was the first spark of life I'd seen from her since her father's death." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "I knelt and hugged her. She felt oh, so very fragile in my arms. \"Today, yes, dear heart. Today I am hurt and angry. But it's all right. It's all right to feel such things. Everyone does. You heard the priest, didn't you? The gods understand sorrow—and anger, too.\"\n\nShe put her arms around my neck, nestling her face against my throat." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Why do they send so much of it?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"I don't know,\" I admitted.\n\nBao crouched beside us. \"It is their way of teaching us to be strong,\" he said to her. \"It is a hard way, but it is the only way. And you are strong, aren't you?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "The young princess gave him a faint smile." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Strong like a dragon?\"\n\nHe nodded. \"Exactly.\"\n\nAfter the funeral service was concluded, there was another procession through the streets of the City of Elua, ending in a reception at the Palace. Sister Gemma reclaimed Desirée and restored her to the nursery." }, { "from": "human", "value": "I watched the politicking that took place, feeling uneasy at it." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Life ended, but politics continued.\n\nWhen the delegation from House Shahrizai approached us, I felt chagrin added to my grief. They, too, would suffer from the way the politics of this tragedy played out. \"I'm so sorry, my lady,\" I said to Celestine Shahrizai." }, { "from": "human", "value": "My voice sounded hollow." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"I fear your generosity toward us proved a bad investment.\"\n\nThe matriarch of the House gave my elbow a hard squeeze—hard enough to hurt, yet strangely bracing for it. \"Do not blame yourself for the vagaries of fate, young one, nor fear our generosity will be withdrawn. We knew the risk we took.\"\n\n\"It's not your fault,\" Balthasar added." }, { "from": "human", "value": "With his blue-black hair and ivory skin, he looked well in mourning garb, but his eyes were rimmed with red and there were dark shadows beneath them." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "His mouth twisted bitterly. \"I should have been there. I should have gone with Thierry.\"\n\n\"There's nothing you could have done,\" his cousin Josephine murmured.\n\nBalthasar turned his grief-haunted gaze on her." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"We'll never know, will we?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "His gaze shifted onto Rogier Courcel, deep in conference with the Comte de Thibideau, with a handful of other peers respectfully waiting their turn to speak with him. \"And gods damn Daniel de la Courcel for putting us in this situation!\"\n\nThe other Shahrizai hushed him hastily. I glanced around, but it didn't seem anyone had noticed." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"I'm going to go get drunk,\" Balthasar announced. \"Who's with me?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Bao and I declined. I had to address the Parliament tomorrow, my petition to do so having been reluctantly granted, and I would need my wits about me. As the reception thinned, we took our leave, returning home through the somber, silent streets of the City of Elua. Our house steward, Guillaume Norbert, greeted us with weary gravity and asked if there was aught that we required." }, { "from": "human", "value": "All I wanted was to sleep, and wake to find this was all a terrible dream." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "I thanked him for his kindness and retired to the bedchamber. I undressed and crawled into bed. Bao moved around the chamber quietly, snuffing the lamps.\n\n\"It will get better, Moirin,\" he murmured, joining me in our bed." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Day by day, bit by bit. It will get easier to bear.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"It's just so unfair!\" My voice broke on the last word.\n\n\"I know.\" Bao held me and breathed the Breath of Ocean's Rolling Waves, deep and soothing. \"I know.\"\n\nComforted by his warmth and worn out by sorrow, I fell into sleep as though it were a bottomless pit from which I never wished to emerge." }, { "from": "human", "value": "I slept, and dreamed." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "I dreamed I was back in the Palace, standing in the hallway outside the door to the enchanted bower Jehanne had had made for me.\n\nI took a deep breath before I opened the door.\n\nJehanne was there, seated on the edge of my bed beneath the green fronds of the great fern. As ever, the fern-shadows painted delicate traceries on her fair skin; but this time, she was fully clothed." }, { "from": "human", "value": "She lifted her head as I entered the room, and her blue-grey eyes were bright with tears." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "She knew.\n\nA choked sound escaped me. I crossed the room and fell to my knees before her, burying my face in her lap. My shoulders shook with sobs, the sobs of profound grief that I'd not yet loosed." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Jehanne held me, stroking my hair until the worst of the storm had passed." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "It was a long time before I could look up at her.\n\n\"I'm so sorry,\" I whispered.\n\n\"I know,\" she said sadly. There was a depth of knowledge and wisdom in her beautiful face that she'd only begun to acquire in life." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"So am I. And I am angry, too, my beautiful girl. But Daniel had borne all that he could, and I forgive him for it.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "She stroked my cheeks, wiping away the tracks of my tears. \"This was one blow too many.\"\n\nI repeated what I knew was a child's futile protest. \"It's not fair!\"\n\n\"No, it's not,\" Jehanne agreed." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"But that doesn't mean there isn't a purpose in it.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Her hand lingered against my cheek, cupping it with affection. The sorrow in her star-bright eyes reminded me of the sorrow in the gaze of the Maghuin Dhonn Herself when She had laid a destiny on me. \"It's coming time, Moirin.\"\n\nEven in a dream, I felt cold. \"Time for what?\"" } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Task: Cooperative storytelling\nMy role: Provide a brief opening\nYour role: Expand upon my opening with four sentences, emulating the writing style of Jacqueline Carey." }, { "from": "human", "value": "When the royal steward rang the bell summoning us to the dinner table, it was time for Desirée to return to the nursery, and time for us to say our final farewells." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Now came the realization that this occasion marked the separation to come, and the inevitable tears and protestations.\n\nThe assembled peers watched the scene uncomfortably, and Claudine de Barthelme gave Sister Gemma a discreet order to remove the princess forthwith.\n\nI shook my head at her. \"Wait, please.\"\n\nAlthough it earned her a none-too-subtle glare from Maman Claudine, the priestess obeyed." }, { "from": "human", "value": "I knelt before Desirée, Bao crouching on his heels beside me." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Dear heart, it's time to say good-bye for now. Remember how we talked about being brave?\"\n\nShe nodded.\n\n\"Remember this?\" I shifted my hands into a reassuring mudra, and then a mudra of concentration. \"And this?\"\n\nThe effort of concentrating on emulating my gestures distracted Desirée from her tears." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"I remember, Moirin. It's a way to make prayers.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Good girl.\" I kissed the top of her head. \"When you think of Bao and me while we are gone, mayhap you will pray for us, and for your brother, Thierry, and all the men with him, and everyone travelling with us. All the way across the ocean, it will gladden our hearts, and it will help you to be brave, too.\"\n\nShe gazed at me with a child's wide-eyed willingness to believe. \"Truly?\"\n\n\"Truly,\" I said firmly." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Now, give us both a good-bye hug.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"A really, really good one,\" Bao added. \"As hard as you can, so we'll feel it for days and days!\"\n\nWith a sound halfway between a laugh and a sob, Desirée obliged, wrapping her slender arms around my neck and squeezing me with fierce strength, burying her face against the curve of my throat. \"I love you,\" she whispered in a muffled tone." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"I do! And I will pray every day, I promise!\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "I returned her embrace, pressing one last kiss against her fine, silken hair. \"I love you too, dear heart,\" I whispered in reply. \"And I thank you for your prayers.\"\n\nWhen I released her reluctantly, she hugged Bao with equal fervor." }, { "from": "human", "value": "He whispered somewhat in her ear, and rose to his feet holding her." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "When she unwound her arms from around his neck, Bao tossed her a foot or so into the air, then caught her effortlessly, eliciting a faint, sorrow-tinged giggle from her. After one more hug, he kissed her cheek and set her on her feet.\n\nA soft murmur ran through the hall.\n\nIt may not have been as poignant a sight as the tableau Duc Rogier had staged, but it came close—and it was genuine." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Not a few peers dabbed at their eyes with handkerchiefs as Sister Gemma escorted the young princess from the hall, Desirée glancing tearfully over her shoulder until the doors closed behind her." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "I closed my eyes and took a deep breath.\n\nWhen I opened my eyes, the Comtesse de Maillet was staring at me with a disdain she could barely conceal. \"My granddaughter lacks manners,\" she said in a stiff voice. \"I must confess that I am sorry to see that behavior that would not be tolerated in the Night Court is encouraged in the Palace. That, I assure you, will change.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Without thinking, I summoned the twilight." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "It could not hide me from a gaze already upon me, but I knew it manifested nonetheless as a visible sparkling in the air around me, a sign that a gate partway into the spirit world had been opened.\n\nA few folk cheered; some whistled in awe. Others raised their hands in an ancient sign to avert evil. Bao gave a low chuckle." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Jehanne's mother took a step backward." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Your granddaughter lacks affection,\" I said in a precise tone. \"Somewhat I am given to understand House Barthelme seeks to provide her. Since you have seen fit to insert yourself into her life, I hope that you will aid them.\"\n\nShe opened her mouth to reply, but no words emerged.\n\n\"Yes, yes, of course!\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Duc Rogier came forward, putting his arms around Desirée's newly found grandparents, steering the whole of the royal family toward the waiting tables, beckoning to all of us." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"We are all concerned for her young highness' well-being. It is a concern you voiced to me long ago, Lady Moirin, and I am doing my best to rectify the lack.\" The Duc permitted himself a faint smile. \"How fortunate we are that the child's own grandmother, appointed a peer of the realm by King Daniel himself, has consented to serve as the Royal Governess in the days to come! I am only sorry I did not act sooner.\" He met my gaze." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Shall we dine, and toast to the success of your endeavor?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Holding his gaze, I let the twilight fade. \"By all means, my lord.\"\n\nWe dined.\n\nIt was an awkward meal." }, { "from": "human", "value": "I daresay a good many of the folk present didn't appreciate the stakes at play, but I knew." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Duc Rogier made many toasts in honor of the expedition, speaking of it in fulsome terms, giving it his every blessing, praying for our success. I knew he was lying through his teeth. And by the cynical expressions on the faces of our allies like Balthasar Shahrizai and Septimus Rousse, they knew it, too.\n\nBut others didn't—not the members of the Great Houses, and surely not the impoverished young noblemen of the Lesser Houses who had pledged themselves to our quest." }, { "from": "human", "value": "With every toast, they cheered and stamped their feet." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"To Thierry!\" they cried. \"Prince Thierry!\"\n\n\"King Thierry! Long may he live!\"\n\nIt brought me a certain grim pleasure to see Duc Rogier's face harden at the reminder that Thierry de la Courcel, if he was indeed alive, was in fact the rightful King of Terre d'Ange. Mostly, though, I wanted this charade of an evening to end." }, { "from": "human", "value": "For the first time since my lady Jehanne had come to me in my dream, I was looking forward to getting this venture under way." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "And although it seemed that it never would end, at last the evening did. The only thing left to endure was the Duc's final farewell. There, before all the assembled peers, he clasped Bao's hands in a respectful manner, and then embraced me warmly and wished us well on our quest.\n\n\"All of Terre d'Ange will pray for your success and safe return,\" he said in a solemn voice." }, { "from": "human", "value": "I smiled sweetly at him." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Your excellence, I am perfectly well aware that you consider this quest a monumental folly without a chance in the world of succeeding, and that you are only backing it because to do otherwise would lay your grasping ambition bare for all the realm to see.\" Pressing my palms together, I bowed to him in the Bhodistani manner. \"I will do my best to prove you wrong.\"\n\nRogier de Barthelme gaped at me." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Without giving him a chance to reply, I turned and made my exit from the great hall, Bao beside me." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Outdoors, I felt limp with relief that the ordeal was over. Bao was chuckling over my parting comments.\n\n\"I knew you wouldn't be able to hold your tongue all night long,\" he said. \"Did you see the look on his face?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"It was foolish of me,\" I muttered." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"No, I don't think so.\" Bao shook his head. \"You're right. If you'd faced him down earlier, all it would have done was cause strife and weaken our hand. But this, everyone will remember. You had the final word.\"\n\n\"Finding Thierry and bringing him safely home will be the final word, my magpie,\" I reminded him." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"True,\" he agreed." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "As endless as the evening had seemed, out of consideration for the morrow's dawn departure the fête had begun early by D'Angeline standards, and the first stars were only just beginning to emerge when Bao and I returned to our borrowed house. I stood outside for a long moment, breathing in the scent of the cypress trees and the spring-damp soil, listening to the plants in the garden rustle and grow.\n\nAfter tomorrow, it would be a long, long time before I saw dry land again.\n\nInside, we confirmed that all was in readiness for our departure, our trunks packed with attire suitable for travel." }, { "from": "human", "value": "I strung my faithful yew-wood bow that my uncle Mabon had made for me and tested its draw, finding it as resilient as ever, and then unstrung it and wrapped it in oilcloth for the journey." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "At my request, our steward Guillaume Norbert assembled the entire household staff. Bao and I thanked them for their gracious service, presenting each one with a small purse as a token of gratitude.\n\nEach and every one of them tried to refuse it, but I insisted. \"You've all been very kind,\" I said." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"And I know ours is hardly the sort of household in which any of you dreamed of serving.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "For the first time since we'd met, Guillaume laughed. \"No,\" he admitted. \"It isn't. In the long history of House Shahrizai, the door to the seraglio has never been closed for so long. Nonetheless, it's been a privilege, my lady.\" He bowed. \"It is a valiant quest you undertake. We will pray, all of us, for your success and your safe return.\"\n\nI was grateful to hear the words spoken with sincerity. \"My thanks.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "He bowed again. \"Of course. I'll see that you and Messire Bao are awoken in a timely manner, my lady.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "With that done, Bao and I retired to our bedchamber. He eyed me in a speculative manner. \"I suppose we ought to sleep, huh? Big day tomorrow.\"\n\n\"No.\" I slid one hand around the back of his neck, tugging his head down for a kiss, feeling the familiar intimacy of our shared diadh-anam intertwining." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Unlike your Ch'in greatships, there will be precious little room for privacy aboard this one. I suppose we ought to thank Naamah for blessing our union, and celebrate it by offering up many hours of lovemaking as a prayer.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Bao smiled, wrapping his arms around my waist and pulling me against him. \"Oh, good. I like your idea better.\"\n\nAh, gods! We'd come such a long way together; and we had such a long way yet to go. There was another ocean awaiting us, and beyond it, untold dangers." }, { "from": "human", "value": "But for tonight, one night, it was enough to simply be together." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Piece by piece, we undressed each other, until there were no barriers left and we were naked before one another.\n\nWe kissed, long and luxuriantly.\n\nWe explored every part of each other as though it were new. I reveled in sheer sensation, in the rasping glide of Bao's palms over my skin, in the tug of his mouth on my nipples, his clever fingers teasing the cleft between my thighs, eliciting the moisture of desire." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Kissing his throat, I inhaled the hot-forge scent of his skin." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Working my way lower, I bit his nipples and smiled to see the ridged muscles of his belly contract beneath the caress of my trailing hair, his straining phallus bent upward like a bow.\n\nI took him into my mouth and performed the languisement with all my hard-won skill, making him spend.\n\nPushing my thighs apart, Bao settled himself between them, gazing at me with half-lidded eyes, and returned the favor until I was breathless with pleasure.\n\nHard once more, he slid up my body and propped himself on his forearms, thrusting into me." }, { "from": "human", "value": "It was good; so good." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The bright lady smiled with brilliant approval.\n\nThere was a magic to lovemaking that never faded, an alchemy of the flesh that never failed to evoke wonder. We were two, and we were one. Joined by the spark of the Maghuin Dhonn Herself, an intimacy I'd never known with anyone else, nor ever would." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Joined by flesh—his flesh in me, hot and throbbing, mine encompassing his, wet and eager." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Bao's hips rocked, and mine rose to meet them, enjoying the sensation of fullness advancing and retreating. Sweetly, tenderly, he kissed my lips, thrusting deep inside me all the while.\n\n\"Stone and sea!\" I gasped, feeling the waves of climax burst within me, my inner walls squeezing his hard shaft.\n\nBao groaned, sinking hilt-deep inside me, a hot rush of seed spurting." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Afterward, we lay entwined together for a time, heading drowsily toward sleep." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "I rested my head on Bao's chest, listening to his strong, steady heartbeat while he toyed lazily with my hair.\n\n\"Moirin, when this is over, do you suppose we might start a family?\" he asked. \"Assuming we live through it, of course.\"\n\n\"You and your fat babies,\" I said sleepily." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"It's not a jest.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "With an effort, I lifted my head. \"I know.\"\n\n\"Well?\" There was a rare vulnerability in his dark eyes. \"I know that I am only a Ch'in peasant-boy, and I have done things in my life I'm not proud of. Do you think I would not make a suitable father?\"\n\n\"Bao!\" I sat upright, shocked. \"No!\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"It's just—\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Whatever he meant to say, I silenced it with a kiss. \"Having watched you with Desirée, and Ravindra before her, I think you will make a most excellent father.\" I gave the gold hoops in his ears a meaningful tug. \"No matter what you've done. I've done foolish things, too. But you are my husband, and I love you, and if we live through this, yes, I will gladly light a candle to Eisheth and bear your fat babies.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "With one finger, I poked at his hard, flat abdomen." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Although I am still not convinced of their relative plumpness.\"\n\nBao's face relaxed into a smile. \"You'll see. Round as dumplings.\"\n\nWith a sigh, I settled back against him." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Let us pray we have the chance.\"" }, { "from": "system", "value": "Your next one should be approximately 1 sentence." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He kissed my temple. \"I do.\"" } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "The user will write a bit then you need to write around four sentences continuing directly from the user's text. Try to mimic the style of Jacqueline Carey.Produce four sentences using the prose and structure of Jacqueline Carey every time its your turn using what the user wrote as a seed." }, { "from": "human", "value": "A day later, all was in readiness." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The steel tools we had brought had been delivered to the Emperor's palace, keeping back only the hatchets and adzes that Septimus Rousse gauged we might need to create vessels to navigate the jungle rivers.\n\nFor that alone, I was grateful that he had chosen to accompany us. Even Bao, my resourceful magpie, admitted such a need would not have occurred to him.\n\nEmperor Achcuatli assigned two pochtecas to guide us into the verdant wilderness of Tawantinsuyo." }, { "from": "human", "value": "It was strange to see him once more after the lone day and night we had shared." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Truly, we were intimate strangers. His obsidian gaze lingered on me with a certain tenderness as he made the introductions. I could not but help remember his weight upon me as I sank into the feather pallet, the feeling of him inside me.\n\nI pushed those memories away." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Bao maintained an expressionless face." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The pochtecas were an uncle and nephew. Neither were young; indeed, the elder of the two, Eyahue, was a wiry old fellow with skin tanned like leather by time and sun, his black hair gone to grey, his mouth sunken around missing teeth. At least he looked to be in reasonably good spirits regarding the journey. His nephew, Pochotl, was a sturdy fellow in his late forties, and he looked none too happy to obey the Emperor's order." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Rounding out our company was the spotted warrior Temilotzin, and he looked downright cheerful at the prospect." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "I had the impression Achcuatli had assigned him the duty simply because Temilotzin had taken a liking to us.\n\nStanding atop a gilded dais in the great temple square of Tenochtitlan, the Nahuatl Emperor bade us a ceremonial farewell, publicly announcing that we were under his protection as far as the empire extended. He invoked the blessing of the gods on our journey, adding that offerings of flowers and honey would be given to Xochiquetzal, goddess of desire, in my name—every day until our return, or a year had passed.\n\nI found myself unexpectedly touched by the gesture." }, { "from": "human", "value": "The Nahuatl folk seemed to approve." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Bao raised his brows at me, but he kept his silence.\n\nAnd then it was done, and there was nothing left but to bow deeply to Achcuatli, offer thanks for his generosity, and take our leave.\n\nI cannot imagine what an odd sight our caravan made as we departed the city of Tenochtitlan and crossed the broad southern causeway for what might well be the last time. Forty D'Angeline warriors, sunlight bouncing off their steel helmets, bright reflections wavering in the placid water of the lake along which they marched." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Our two pochtecas, one wizened, one sullen." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Temilotzin in his jaguar hides and a wooden helmet with a feathered crest, a club in one hand, spear in the other, his wicker shield slung over his shoulder. Bare-headed Septimus Rousse, his coppery red hair a blaze beneath the blue sky. Bao with his staff lashed across his back, resembling no one else in our company. Three laden pack-horses, and me riding astride the fourth." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Nahuatl fishermen in reed boats and farmers on the artificial islands watched us go." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "It felt as though we were marching into history, never to be seen again. The Aragonians would tell the tale of the D'Angeline expedition that had tried to whore its way into the Emperor's graces with disdain.\n\nMayhap the Nahuatl would tell the tale as a tragic romance, the doomed expedition led by a woman from across the sea, who left behind the Emperor to lay flowers on Xochiquetzal's altar in vain.\n\nAnd back in Terre d'Ange, my name would become a hallmark for folly, the half-breed bear-witch whose pride and arrogance compounded the realm's grief." }, { "from": "human", "value": "I prayed to Blessed Elua and his Companions, and to the Maghuin Dhonn Herself, that it would not be so." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The first weeks of our journey were easy enough as such things go. We were within the confines of the Nahuatl Empire. Achcuatli had sent out runners carrying word that we were under his protection, and no one troubled us. While one could not exactly say Balthasar and his recruits were inured to the hardship of marching beneath the hot sun in chain-mail and brigandines, they bore it more easily." }, { "from": "human", "value": "As soon as we were out of sight of Tenochtitlan, I'd dismounted and taken to walking like the others, reckoning sharing the hardship was the least I could do." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "I'd done my part to command respect, and my mount was better used carrying supplies and trade goods, which we redistributed accordingly.\n\nEvery few days, we came across inns catering to the large parties of pochtecas, where we were able to refresh ourselves with baths and skillfully cooked meals. Septimus Rousse, who had served as a galley-cook as a lad, had taken on himself the duty of overseeing the preparation of meals in the field, but many of the ingredients in the stores we'd bartered for were unfamiliar to him. His overgenerous use of dried chiles to flavor the maize porridge he made had my eyes watering more than once." }, { "from": "human", "value": "As an added benefit, we were able to inquire if anyone remembered a party of fair-skinned strangers from across the sea passing through over a year ago." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "More often than not, we were able to confirm that we were still on the trail of Prince Thierry's expedition, something that heartened all of us and made the following day's journey easier to bear.\n\nAnd at the first inn we visited, I introduced Bao to the pleasure of the temazcalli, the Nahuatl steam-bath.\n\nIt had the purgative effect I'd hoped for. Although I knew Bao had spoken truly when he said he was not angry at me, I knew he was angry nonetheless, and matters had been uneasy between us since he'd struck Diego Ortiz y Ramos." }, { "from": "human", "value": "There in the temazcalli, the tension melted away." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "We sat cross-legged and side by side on the stone ledge, wreathed in steam, breathing it deep into our lungs, sweat streaming down our naked bodies.\n\nWhen Bao glanced sidelong at me through the steam, there was a familiar gleam in his eyes. \"You look... slippery.\"\n\nI eyed him, noting his phallus was hard and erect, curving toward the shining trail of sweat trickling down his flat, lean-muscled belly. \"You look... interested.\"\n\n\"Did you do this with him?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "he asked. \"In the steam-bath?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "I shook my head. \"No.\"\n\nBao smiled, unfolding his legs. \"Good.\"\n\nAnd it was good; slippery and awkward and good. The hard stone of the ledge dug into my knees as I straddled him, my hair falling from its lover's-haste knot in damp tendrils that clung to my cheeks." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Bao braced me as we kissed, his hands firm on my hips, our tongues dueling." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Skin slid against sweat-slick skin as I reached down and fitted his phallus to me, sinking onto him, leaning against him to press my breasts against the hard plane of his chest, clinging to his shoulders, rising and falling to impale myself on him amidst the clouds of steam.\n\nWhether or not our Nahuatl innkeepers knew and were scandalized, I never knew. If they were, they did not say.\n\nAfterward, things were easier between us." }, { "from": "human", "value": "An unspoken accord had been reached, and I felt lighter in my heart for it." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "As our unlikely caravan journeyed farther and farther southward, all of us came to know one another better.\n\nEyahue, our senior pochteca, was unexpectedly garrulous for a Nahuatl, telling long, rambling tales of heroic trade expeditions he'd undertaken during his younger days. Due to his missing teeth, his diction was imperfect and I often had a difficult time understanding him, but the Jaguar Knight Temilotzin found his tales worthy of thigh-slapping hilarity, roaring with laughter. Bit by bit, I came to gather that Eyahue had ventured into the river-laced jungles of Tawantinsuyo in pursuit of various herbs that could be obtained nowhere else, the specific details of which the old fellow was cagey about revealing." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"All you need to find is your missing prince, right?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "he said to me, sucking meditatively at his remaining teeth. \"You did not come for herbs, so it does not matter, eh?\"\n\nHis nephew was another matter. Unlike his uncle, Pochotl maintained the traditional stone face and a stone heart." }, { "from": "human", "value": "My initial impression was correct." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "While the stolid, middle-aged Pochotl had accompanied his uncle on previous journeys, he had no desire to undertake another. He had made his fortune, and he resented the Emperor's order for disturbing his comfortable life.\n\nI could not blame him for it.\n\nBut I could not like him, either." }, { "from": "human", "value": "In addition to proving surprisingly talkative, Eyahue had a prodigious libido for a man of his years." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He reminded me of the old Tatar guide who'd led me across the desert and had been so taken with Master Lo's Camaeline snowdrop tonic, except Eyahue had no need of aphrodisiacs. At nearly every inn or village we visited along the way, the old fellow managed to find a woman willing to accommodate him. Although the goddess Xochiquetzal did not have an equivalent of Naamah's sacred service, it seemed a casual form of prostitution was not unknown among the Nahuatl.\n\n\"I'll tell you, he's an inspiration,\" Balthasar observed, watching Eyahue steer a broad-hipped woman back to his chamber, one hand firmly planted on her buttocks." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"I don't know where the old codger finds the energy.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"He's not marching in sodding armor, for one thing.\" Brice de Bretel rubbed the back of his neck. \"I'm beginning to wish someone would damn well attack us just to justify slogging along in it.\"\n\nDenis shook his head at him." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Don't wish for trouble. Once we're past the boundaries of the Nahuatl Empire, we're likely to find enough of it.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "It was a prospect I regarded with equal parts dread and eagerness. Terra Nova was vast, vaster than I'd reckoned. We trudged through mountain passes and descended into fertile valleys, pausing to let the pack-horses graze whenever we were able, a necessity that further delayed our progress.\n\nWe followed long, winding rivers, where I had some success shooting waterfowl for the pot." }, { "from": "human", "value": "For reasons I didn't entirely fathom, Temilotzin found my skill with a bow well nigh as hilarious as Eyahue's tales and took to calling me his little warrior." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "On and on we travelled.\n\nA part of me wondered if mayhap the Dauphin had simply misgauged the distances involved and his party was somewhere ahead of us, marching across the endless landscape, an ever-receding target.\n\nBalthasar and Denis, who knew Thierry de la Courcel better than I, assured me it was not so. The prince had given his word that he would return in a year's time." }, { "from": "human", "value": "He would have turned back rather than break his oath." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "At two months into our journey, we entered the farthest reaches of the Nahuatl Empire. The folk there were not native Nahuatl speakers. According to Eyahue, they had been conquered by Achcuatli's father, and chafed under the rule of the Nahuatl. They regarded us with curiosity and suspicion, but they were willing to trade to replenish our dwindling stores, and fortunately, Eyahue and Pochotl spoke their tongue." }, { "from": "human", "value": "In the market-place of the first such city, it struck me that if our stores were running low, Thierry's must have been, too." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Travellers' inns were becoming fewer and farther between, and it had been well over a week since we'd had confirmation.\n\nAs Temilotzin cheerfully observed, there was no way of knowing if the Dauphin's party had succeeded in reaching Tawantinsuyo; and we had entered territory that was potentially hostile.\n\nSo I dispatched Eyahue and Pochotl to comb the market-place in search of any merchant or farmer who remembered the strangers from across the sea trading for food goods. For a mercy, they returned with an affirmative answer." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Our journey continued." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "At every settlement, we repeated the same process, the pochtecas questioning the local folk.\n\nI could not help but think of the tale of the D'Angeline Prince Imriel de la Courcel, who had tracked my ancestor Berlik all the way to the Vralian wilderness using a similar method, seeking to avenge the death of his wife and unborn child.\n\nIt was a piece of irony that it now fell to me to follow in the footsteps of Prince Imriel's descendant on the opposite side of the world, venturing deeper into the increasingly torrid southern heat, even as he had followed Berlik into the frigid, snowy wild.\n\nWhen I mentioned it to Bao during the course of a day's journey, he shrugged." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"It seems to me the gods often laugh at our expense.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He wiped one tattooed forearm across his brow, dashing away beads of sweat. \"Do not torture me with talk of snow, Moirin.\"\n\n\"I don't mean to.\" I paused. \"Do you think the gods are mocking us?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Bao heard the uncertainty in my voice and responded to it." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"No,\" he said in a firm tone, giving me his full attention. \"No, I do not. Forgive me, I did but speak in jest. Moirin, I believe the gods have their own way of restoring balance in the world—or at least that the world ever seeks to return to balance, even as water seeks to return to its source.\"\n\n\"All ways lead to the Way,\" I murmured.\n\nHe nodded. \"So Master Lo Feng always said, and he was the wisest man I have ever known.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "I sighed. \"I wish he were here.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Bao smiled wryly. \"So do I. But if he were—\" He touched his chest, where the spark of our shared diadh-anam flickered. \"I would not be.\"\n\n\"Master Lo made his choice,\" I said.\n\n\"Yes.\" His fingers brushed my cheek, lingering." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"And I am at peace with it.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "I smiled back at him. \"I'm glad.\"\n\nTemilotzin poked me from behind with the point of his spear. \"Keep walking, little warrior!\" he said in a jovial manner." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"We have a long way to go yet.\"" }, { "from": "system", "value": "Your next one should be approximately two sentences." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"How far?\" I asked him.\n\nHe laughed. \"Far.\"" } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Hey can you write like Jacqueline Carey and use whatever i write as a jumping off point?" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Our midnight gathering concluded, the Maidens of the Sun dispersed to their quarters in the temple." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Cusi and I made our way back to my quarters in the palace, the ants streaming alongside us, chittering softly and clicking their ever-hungry mandibles in the moonlight.\n\nShe was calm, a mantle of grace and acceptance settled over her small figure.\n\nI was not.\n\nMy mind reeled from revelation to revelation." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Ah, gods! It seemed cruel, too cruel." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "I wanted to doubt it, and yet, in my heart of hearts, I could not. From the far side of death, Jehanne had told me the women held the key to thwarting Raphael; had told me Raphael had made a mistake in giving me the girl. And before I'd even embarked on this quest, the Nahuatl Emperor Achcuatli had warned me that I did not understand the ways of Terra Nova. Mayhap Naamah had meant for him to hear the words of her blessing—but she had meant for me to hear his words, too." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Sometimes when the gods thirst, blood is the only sacrifice." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Now I believed. But stone and sea, it hurt.\n\nThe ants swarmed up their sisal rope, clambering into a ball. Moving quietly about the bedchamber, Cusi kindled a lamp and turned down the blanket, then turned to leave.\n\n\"Will you not stay?\" I asked her." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Pausing, she shook her head." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"No.\" Her voice was soft with regret. \"I think it is time for me to be alone and pray, lady. I will pass the night in the far chamber, and in the morning, I will ask Lord Pachacuti to send another handmaid to you. I will tell him it is a sacred matter, for it is true.\"\n\nIt was on the tip of my tongue to say that I did not want another handmaid, that in a very short time I had grown fond of Cusi—of her dimpled smile, her youthful innocence, and her woefully obvious spying.\n\nBut that was the girl I'd known yesterday—or the girl I'd thought I had known." }, { "from": "human", "value": "All along, she'd known herself to be a chosen sacrifice." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "And all along, I had been ignorant of the stakes.\n\nNow the choice was truly hers. It had not been mine to make, and it was not mine to belittle or diminish. Only to understand as best I could." }, { "from": "human", "value": "I inclined my head to her." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Sulpayki, Cusi. I will miss you.\"\n\nShe smiled a little, one cheek dimpling. \"You will see me again, lady. It is only that I cannot be a part of...\" She gestured vaguely. \"This. I cannot be pulled in two ways any longer.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "I understood." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "There was a long road yet to travel between the jungle city of Vilcabamba and the Temple of the Ancestors in the distant capital of Qusqu, a road filled with planning and plotting, warfare and strategy, logistics and subterfuge. I'd no idea how we would make it all work; and there was still the matter of my conflicting oaths to be resolved. There were a thousand details to be considered.\n\nBut Cusi was right, that should not concern her now." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Only her choice mattered." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"I pray your gods and ancestors bless you,\" I said to her. A rueful smile tugged at my lips. \"And I pray I can explain this to Bao. He will not like it. Not at all. I cannot promise that he will agree to it.\"\n\n\"He has to,\" Cusi said simply." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"One does not tell Bao what he has to do,\" I murmured." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"But I will try.\"\n\nShe paused. \"Can you tell me one thing, lady? Why does Lord Pachacuti seek such power if it is wrong?\"\n\n\"There is a hunger in him,\" I said. \"Nothing has ever been enough to fill it.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Like the ants,\" she said." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Very like the ants,\" I said. \"But Raphael is a human being. He has been hurt badly by many losses. It has twisted his hunger into something unnatural, just as he has turned the ants' hunger to unnatural ends.\"\n\nShe cocked her head. \"But it is not why you came, is it? You say to him that you came because of a child, a little girl.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Aye.\" I nodded." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Far, far away, she is in danger. I came because I swore an oath to protect her, and the only one who can do this is her brother, Prince Thierry. I came to bring him home. But it is complicated, Cusi. I am responsible for Lord Pachacuti's gift, too. I believe the gods meant for me to attempt to stop him.\" My throat tightened. \"But I never knew it could come at such a cost.\"\n\nCusi patted my uninjured hand gently. \"Do not cry for me, lady. We are also to blame. We took him to be a god.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "A frown creased her brow." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Or do you think I am not worthy of paying the price?\"\n\n\"Not worthy!\" I laughed through the tears that stung my eyes. \"Oh, Cusi, no! I think you are more than worthy. It just seems cruel that the gods, or the ancestors, require the fairest and brightest of blossoms, one only just beginning to bloom.\"\n\nBlushing a little, she ducked her head." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Should we offer them anything less?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "she asked in a low tone.\n\n\"No,\" I said after a long moment. \"No, I suppose not. But I cannot help being sad, and you will have to forgive me for it. I do not mean to dishonor your courage.\"\n\n\"You have a kind heart.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Cusi glanced shyly up at me." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Lord Pachacuti knows this, too. Now that I know you, I see the ways he tries to hurt you. Tomorrow you must tell Lord Pachacuti you are angry at him for choosing me to serve you. He will expect you to be angry and shout.\"\n\nI wiped my eyes. \"He will, won't he?\"\n\n\"Yes.\" She took my bandaged hand." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"I think the bleeding has stopped. Do not let him see this, or he may wonder. I will be careful, too.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "I wanted to answer, but no words came.\n\nLetting go my hand, Cusi gave me an impulsive hug, pressing her soft cheek against mine. \"I am glad I have chosen,\" she whispered. \"And I am glad we share blood, and you are a sister to me now.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "I returned her embrace, kissing her cheek. \"You honor me.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "With that, Cusi took her leave, retreating to her cot in the outer chamber. I lay awake while the lamp burned low and guttered, leaving me in darkness. At last I fell into a fitful sleep.\n\nI dreamed of blood trickling over stone, rivulets swelling to streams." } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Provide 4 sentences as a continuation." }, { "from": "system", "value": "Produce a starting prompt please." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Does your cruelty know no bounds, my lord?\" I shouted at Raphael. \"Gods bedamned, Raphael! You knew! You sent poor Cusi to attend me, knowing you meant to sacrifice her all along!\"\n\nLounging on his throne, Raphael de Mereliot shrugged and stuffed a few leaves into his mouth." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Forgive me, Moirin. It amused me.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "I clenched my wounded hand into a fist, the pain anchoring me. \"I do not forgive you.\"\n\n\"You don't have a great deal of choice, do you?\" Raphael's gaze hardened. \"Anyway, I do but honor the lass by bestowing the gift of sacrifice upon her. She volunteered for it.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "He gestured carelessly around the throne room at his handmaidens." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"They all volunteered, Moirin. Each and every last one of them.\"\n\nI glowered at him, not needing to feign bitterness.\n\nHe laughed. \"Such a look!\" Swinging himself upright, Raphael rose and paced across the floor, accompanied by a skittering stream of ants. \"Ah, Moirin.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "His fingers trailed across my cheek, down my throat." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Once upon a time, I would have ached to have him touch me thusly. Now it made my stomach roil. \"My hot-tempered little bear-witch, my useful tool. Tell me, who would you choose to take Cusi's place?\"\n\n\"No one,\" I murmured." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Oh, but you must if you wish to spare the lass.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He pointed at a pretty Quechua maid, and then another. The young women blanched, trembling, and trying not to show it. After last night's revelation in the temple, none of them were so eager to sacrifice themselves for Lord Pachacuti's sake. \"Her? Or mayhap her?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "I shook my head." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"I will not play this game with you, Raphael.\"\n\nHis fingers tightened like pincers on my throat, digging in hard enough to bruise. \"Then do not complain to me, Moirin mac Fainche of the Maghuin Dhonn!\" With an abrupt gesture, he thrust me away." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"I find it tiresome.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "I staggered and caught myself, massaging my bruised throat. \"No more than I, I assure you.\"\n\nReturning to his throne, Raphael waved one languid hand. \"Go, then.\"\n\nI turned to obey." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Wait.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "I halted.\n\n\"Why did you wed him?\" There was a genuine note of curiosity in Raphael's voice. \"Master Lo's surly lad?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Why do you care?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "I turned back, unnerved by his mercurial mood shift.\n\nHe shrugged. \"I'm curious. Indulge me, won't you? Otherwise, I might have to, oh, forbid you to see him. I haven't done that yet, have I? All in all, I think I've been quite generous with you.\"\n\n\"All right.\" I took a deep breath. \"First of all, he's a man, not a lad. And he's not surly. If he seemed so in Terre d'Ange, it was only because D'Angelines had given him little cause to love them.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "I gave him a tight smile. \"You, in particular.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"I never said a word to the lad!\" Raphael retorted in an offended tone.\n\nI raised my brows. \"Aye, and I suspect that may have had somewhat to do with it, my lord. Bao is stubborn and proud. You treated him as less than a man. You're doing it still. Do you blame him for resenting it?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Raphael blinked. \"I treated him as I would treat any servant.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"No.\" I shook my head. \"I lived in your household, Raphael. You treated your servants with a courtesy you never afforded Bao, with a courtesy you do not afford your Quechua handmaids.\"\n\nHe lowered his voice. \"They are a simple folk, Moirin! They worship their rulers. If I treated them otherwise, they would not respect me.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Mayhap,\" I said. \"Or mayhap it is that like many D'Angelines, you think so very highly of yourself, you have a hard time reckoning others your equals.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Raphael scowled at me. \"Mayhap it is your own bitterness that speaks!\"\n\n\"Mayhap it is,\" I admitted. \"How many times did you see fit to remind me that I was naïve and unsophisticated? I grant you, it was true, but it did not make me less than you. Different, but not less. You never saw me as aught but a useful tool for your hands to wield, the very thing you called me today.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"And so you are.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Leaning his head against the back of his throne, Raphael closed his eyes. \"One that grows tiresome once more. Never mind. Go away, Moirin.\"\n\n\"No.\" I stood my ground. \"Since you asked, I will answer your question. I wed Bao because I love him. I love his pride and stubbornness, even when it exasperates me. I love his refusal to succumb to despair. He makes me laugh. And he makes me feel... safe.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Raphael's eyes cracked open. \"That sounds dull.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"It's not,\" I said.\n\n\"I think you harbor a deep-seated resentment against full-blooded D'Angelines,\" he said.\n\nI laughed out loud. \"If I did, would I have travelled to the far side of the world to rescue one of them? No.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "I shook my head again." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"I have found much to love in Terre d'Ange. I find the worship of Blessed Elua and his Companions, the celebration of love and desire, to be beautiful and unique among realms. I found my father, and my lady Je—\" I stopped myself before I said Jehanne's name. \"I have found myself guilty of misjudgment,\" I said instead, \"and discovered that a beautiful face and a facile wit can conceal great strength of character.\"\n\nHe stirred. \"Do not speak of her!\"\n\n\"I wasn't,\" I said." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"If anyone misjudged her, it was she herself. I was speaking of Balthasar Shahrizai.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Oh.\" Unexpectedly, Raphael's mouth quirked. \"I imagine he's despising every minute of this, isn't he?\"\n\n\"Indeed,\" I agreed.\n\nThe thought seemed to cheer him." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"All right, you've had your say. Now be gone with you. I mean it this time, Moirin.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "I took my leave with alacrity, glad to be out of his presence. Raphael had always been tempestuous, but he had never been violent. The bruises on my throat were a reminder that everything was different now. Cusi was right, I had to do what he expected to avoid arousing suspicion, but I needed to be careful about provoking him." }, { "from": "human", "value": "It was a piece of luck that my reference to Balthasar had amused him, pandering unwittingly to the streak of cruelty within him." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Upon returning to my quarters, I found that Cusi's replacement had already been assigned to me, a serious-looking young woman named Machasu, a few years older than Cusi. She pointed gravely at my injured hand. \"Sister of one, sister of all,\" she said in softly accented D'Angeline.\n\nIt was a relief to hear." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Sulpayki, thank you. Yes.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Machasu nodded. \"Eat now, lady?\"\n\nI shook my head. \"I must speak with my men. Lord Pachacuti hasn't forbidden it, has he?\"\n\n\"No.\" She fixed me with an intent gaze." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"But I have to tell him what you do and say. Ocllo says, say what you tell me. This, I will do.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"I am grateful.\" I hesitated. \"Machasu, is it just the Maidens of the Sun who are willing to help, or are there others?\"\n\n\"No others yet, but some women may help if Ocllo asks.\" Her grave look deepened." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"But she must be very, very careful.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"I understand,\" I said. \"What about the men?\"\n\n\"No.\" Her tone was flat.\n\n\"I would like to speak to your Prince Manco nonetheless. Not about this,\" I hastened to add, raising my wounded hand as Machasu's expression turned to one of alarm." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Not about the secret of the ancestors. But about Lord Pachacuti.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Prince Manco will not listen to you,\" she said with distaste. \"He thinks he is a great warrior chosen by the gods. You cannot trust him. Anything you say, he will say to Lord Pachacuti.\"\n\n\"I know,\" I said. \"But it only amuses Lord Pachacuti to see me try and fail. And it may be that seeds of doubt planted now will blossom later.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Machasu looked dubious. \"I will ask.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Another thought struck me. \"Machasu, I may have to reveal the secret of the ancestors to all my men, not just Bao. If I ask them to trust blindly, knowing nothing, I fear they will rebel. But I do not want to betray the trust of the Maidens of the Sun, either.\"\n\nShe was silent a moment. \"You are our sister,\" she said at length." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Ocllo trusts you. Do as you must.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "With that, we set out to trek across the terraced fields.\n\nMy heart ached at the sight of Bao's indomitable grin as he caught sight of me. Everything I had told Raphael was true, but it didn't begin to encompass the bond between us. There was the way my diadh-anam quickened with joy at being reunited with his, a sensation I couldn't even begin to describe." }, { "from": "human", "value": "There was an unshakeable solidarity born of having survived so many trials and hardships together—aye, and wonders, too." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "There was love, always love.\n\nI did not relish the task of telling him what I had to tell him today. In the benighted Temple of the Sun, it had seemed at once a noble sacrifice and a necessary horror. In the bright light of ordinary day, sweat trickling beneath my gown, it merely seemed a horror, an unthinkable horror." }, { "from": "human", "value": "But it wasn't an ordinary day." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "No day under Lord Pachacuti's rule was ordinary. A living, seething moat of ants ringed the field, an ever-present reminder of the unnatural straits in which we found ourselves.\n\nBao read my expression, his grin faltering. \"What is it, Moirin? More trouble?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"No.\" My eyes stung." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Worse. Hope, but it is a grim one.\"\n\nHis sharp gaze skated over Machasu. \"That is a different maid,\" he said in the scholar's tongue. \"Is she also a spy?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"No,\" I said. \"An ally.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The others began to gather, eager for news. There was not a man among them one would have taken at a glance for the pampered, gossip-loving scions of D'Angeline nobility many of them had been, quick to revel in luxury and indulgence. They were lean and work-hardened, hands callused by paddles and digging-sticks, fair skin burnt brown by the sun. But there was a fierce light in their eyes." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Whatever fight there was to be fought, they were ready for it." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Lady Moirin.\" Prince Thierry de la Courcel, naked above the waist, greeted me with a courtly bow that did not disguise the hunger in his expression. \"Tell us, what passes?\"\n\nI swallowed. \"I would speak to Bao alone.\"\n\nA muscle in Thierry's jaw twitched. \"Why?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Balthasar Shahrizai laid a grimy hand on Thierry's shoulder." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"They're husband and wife, man,\" he said in a deceptively easy tone. \"Give them a moment, won't you?\"\n\nPrince Thierry kept his gaze hard on mine. \"Whatever news you have to deliver, it concerns all of us, does it not?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Aye,\" I said. \"But none more than Bao.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The rightful heir to the throne of Terre d'Ange hesitated, then nodded, taking a step backward. \"Of course. As you will, my lady.\"\n\nA stream of ants detached from the river to follow Bao and me into the field as we went some distance from the others. The sun-warmed earth between the rows of growing potatoes was soft and crumbling beneath my sandal-shod feet." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Once we were out of earshot, Bao took my arm in a firm grip." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Tell me,\" he said.\n\nI did.\n\nI told him the whole of what I had learned from Ocllo and Cusi and the Maidens of the Sun. I told him the secret of the ancestors, and their belief that one who was twice-born would wield the key—would wield the knife—to offer the blood sacrifice that would call forth the ancestors out of death into life." }, { "from": "human", "value": "When I had finished, Bao walked away." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He did not go far, only a few paces. But he stood with his back to me, his head bowed, hands clasping his elbows. I gazed at him, seeing the bright shadow that had hung over him since his death gather and darken.\n\n\"Bao...\" I whispered." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Do you think it will work?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "he asked without turning around. \"This business of sacrifice?\"\n\nI went to him then, wrapping my arms around his waist, pressing my face against the back of his neck and inhaling the scent of his skin. \"I think it is our only hope.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Bao took a deep breath, his ribcage rising and falling beneath my arms." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"I should have known there would be a further price to pay,\" he said. \"There is always another price. I do not wish to do this thing, Moirin.\"\n\n\"I know,\" I said.\n\n\"She's scarce more than a child!\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "I leaned my brow against his taut shoulder blades." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"I know. Ah, gods, Bao! I know. But it is her choice, and she has chosen.\"\n\n\"I want to speak with her,\" Bao said abruptly.\n\n\"Cusi?\"\n\nHe turned in my arms." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Yes. I do not doubt you, Moirin. I don't. But for my own sake, I must hear it from her lips.\"" }, { "from": "system", "value": "Next message should be approximately 2 sentences." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "I nodded. \"Then I will make it happen. What will you tell the others?\"\n\nBao shrugged. \"Whatever is needful.\"" } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Write four sentences sentences in the style of Jacqueline Carey spawning from what the user wrote." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Since I was forbidden contact with anyone save the Maidens of the Sun, the following day, I sent Machasu to arrange for a clandestine meeting with Eyahue in the living quarters adjacent to the temple." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Why do you want such a thing?\" the old pochteca asked upon hearing my inquiry. \"Do you think you can drug Lord Pachacuti and escape?\" He waved one hand at my entourage of ants." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"You cannot drug them.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"I know,\" I said. \"Eyahue, at this point, the less you know, the safer you are. Only tell me, do you know of such an herb? Could you obtain it?\"\n\nHe pursed his wrinkled lips. \"There is one, but it is dangerous. Very dangerous. Wurari. It is the poison the blow-dart hunters use.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"I don't want to kill anyone!\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "I said in alarm.\n\n\"In very small amounts, it does not kill,\" Eyahue said. \"It only makes the victim unable to move for a time.\" He shrugged. \"But too much, and they cannot breathe—and I do not know the amounts.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"You could try it on me, lady,\" Machasu offered, her voice trembling a little." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"I do not mind.\"\n\nI winced. \"No. It's too dangerous.\"\n\n\"Or you could try it on small animals first,\" Eyahue suggested pragmatically. \"That is what the hunters do to be sure they have a killing dose.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"A much better idea,\" I said in relief." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Can you obtain it?\"\n\nHe gave me a long, unreadable look. \"Aye, I can. And I will do so now with no questions asked. But before you put it to its final use, I want to know what your purpose is. Do you swear to tell me?\"\n\n\"I do.\" I hugged him. \"Thank you, Eyahue!\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "He scowled at me." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Thank the Emperor Achcuatli for giving you such a wise guide!\" His scowl turned into a leer. \"You must have given him quite a night's pleasure to inspire such generosity.\"\n\nDespite everything, I laughed." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"You may be sure of it, old man.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Eyahue was as good as his word. In a day's time, a small earthenware jar sealed with wax and a wooden stopper was sent to me in care of the Maidens of the Sun. Machasu delivered it to my quarters, along with a brimming bowl of liquid made from fermented maize.\n\n\"Chicha,\" she said in explanation." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"The Maidens of the Sun brew it. It is drunk at all great celebrations.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"So we are to mix the poison in it?\" I sniffed at the bowl, then glanced at the half-dozen caged lizards that were to be the subject of our first experiments. \"I am not sure they will drink it.\"\n\nMachasu shook her head." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"It is not for drinking. The poison cannot be taken by mouth. It must go into the blood, as with a dart. Your guide said it would be better to weaken it with chicha than water.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "She hesitated. \"I fear you have only a day to try this, lady. Lord Pachacuti has given the order. Tomorrow we go.\"\n\nI pried at the wax sealing the stopper. \"Then we'd best begin.\"\n\nIt was a grim series of experiments we conducted in the courtyard under the interested gaze of my attendant ants." }, { "from": "human", "value": "At my request, Machasu procured another bowl and a hollow reed while I gathered a handful of long, spiny thorns from one of the flowering plants." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "First, I tested the wurari on one of the lizards. In its undiluted state, the poison was thick and syrupy. Dipping a thorn into the liquid, I pricked the lizard. Within a minute, the poor creature was dead, and I gave it to the ants." }, { "from": "human", "value": "After that, I used the hollow reed to measure out ten drops of poison into the mixing bowl." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Drop by drop, I began adding chicha beer to dilute it, testing at every stage and scratching notations onto a flagstone with a sharp rock.\n\nSilently, I blessed Master Lo for his attempts to teach me the rudiments of medicine. Although I'd not had an affinity for it, at least I understood the elemental techniques of mixing potions.\n\nIt took every last lizard we had, but after being pricked by a mixture of one measure poison to three measures of chicha, the final subject did not die." }, { "from": "human", "value": "It crouched motionless on the flagstones, its scaled sides rising and falling almost imperceptibly while the restless ants circled in a stream, and Machasu and I watched intently, glancing at the sun to gauge the time." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "I reckoned an hour's time had passed when the lizard began to stir once more, seemingly unharmed. I returned him to his cage, granting him a temporary reprieve.\n\nMachasu let out her breath. \"That was very clever, lady.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "I frowned. \"A man is much bigger than a lizard. I cannot be sure it will work at the same proportions.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "She was silent a moment. \"Then you must try it on me after all.\"\n\n\"No.\"\n\n\"Lady, the lives of my people are at stake.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Machasu did her best to make her voice firm this time." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"I am no more afraid than Cusi to do my duty.\"\n\n\"No,\" I said again. \"I do not dishonor your courage, Machasu. But we are a long way from Qusqu yet, and many things are uncertain. If it is necessary when the time comes, I will accept your offer.\"\n\n\"It is true that many things are uncertain, lady. Because of that, you may not be able to choose the time.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Before I had any inkling of her intentions, Machasu picked up a thorn and dipped it into the mixture, jabbing the soft flesh of her inner elbow." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "A pin-prick of blood blossomed. \"Better to know now.\"\n\n\"Machasu, no!\" I cried, too late.\n\nShe essayed a faint smile. \"It is done.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Time seemed to slow to a crawl as we waited together." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The sun moved sluggishly above the courtyard. Beneath my gown, sweat trickled down my back. The lizard in his cage blinked and dozed. The ants foraged idly, eating leaves that had fallen." }, { "from": "human", "value": "I was on the verge of concluding that the proportion was ineffective on a human when Machasu began to shiver." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Machasu?\" I said urgently. \"What passes?\"\n\n\"I do not know,\" she whispered. \"I feel... weak. It is hard to move my arms. My legs, too.\"\n\n\"Can you breathe?\" I asked." }, { "from": "human", "value": "She nodded." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Good, very good. Keep breathing, low and steady, and all will be well.\" Praying it was true, I felt at the pulses in her wrist as Master Lo had taught me. For a short time, they raced and her skin was hot to the touch; and then her pulses dropped, and her skin grew cold beneath my fingertips.\n\nMachasu's eyes rolled back in her head, showing only the whites." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Stupid girl!\" I muttered, dashing away tears." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"You did not need to take such a risk. Not here, not now.\"\n\nLimp, she made no response.\n\nHer pulse continued to beat at an alarmingly slow rate. Laying a leaf atop her slack lips, I saw that it fluttered faintly." }, { "from": "human", "value": "I cradled Machasu's head in my lap and glared at the skittering ants in the courtyard." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Stay away!\" I warned them fiercely. \"Lest I stomp your queen to death!\"\n\nAlthough it seemed an eternity, it was no more than an hour before Machasu stirred, her eyes returning to their proper orbit. Her skin warmed, her pulse quickening and her breath deepening." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Can you hear me?\" I asked." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "She blinked.\n\nI whispered a prayer of thanks to Eisheth, the D'Angeline goddess of healing. \"I am very, very glad. You should not have done that, Machasu.\"\n\nHer breast heaved in a shallow cough." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"But now you know, lady. It works. One part to three, aye?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "One feeble hand rose, feeling at her throat. \"It is only that it takes longer to work on humans.\"\n\n\"Aye,\" I murmured. \"So it does.\"\n\nIt took the better part of another hour before Machasu was strong enough to walk with my aid into our quarters." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Slipping her arm from my shoulders, I lowered her to rest on her pallet in the antechamber, where she slept long and hard." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "In the courtyard, I tidied away the evidence.\n\nThe white-boned carcasses of the lizards did not concern me. They were the ants' rightful prey, and no one would question their deaths. But I was careful to measure out the amount of wurari poison in the stoppered jar, pouring it into the mixing bowl, which I had cleaned." }, { "from": "human", "value": "I added three drops of chicha for every drop of poison." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "When it was done, I tipped it back into the earthenware jar, and shook it, shoving the wooden stopper in place, making it ready.\n\nLighting a taper, I sealed it with wax. I gathered several dozen more spiny thorns, wrapping them in a length of cloth. I stowed away both the jar of poison and my roll of thorns in the bottom of a satchel, and washed the mixing bowl one last time." }, { "from": "human", "value": "By the time I had finished, the sun was beginning to set." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "I checked on Machasu, and found her sleeping soundly. Her skin was damp and overly warm, but her breathing was reassuringly steady. I sat beside her for a time, breathing the Breath of Ocean's Rolling Waves, stroking the hair back from her brow, thinking on how the courage of these Quechua women humbled me.\n\nWhen the shadows began to gather in the corner of the chamber, I retreated to my own room." }, { "from": "human", "value": "The ants made their nightly foray up the sisal rope, clustering in their customary ball." }, { "from": "system", "value": "Your next one should be approximately 2 sentences." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Tomorrow, we marched to war.\n\nAll I could do was pray that it ended swiftly." } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Provide four sentences as a continuation." }, { "from": "human", "value": "After consulting with the priests, Raphael declared that there should be a day of mourning before his coronation." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "I had a day to make a plan.\n\nOne day.\n\nI cursed myself for telling Raphael to make haste. It was true, our food stores were dwindling at an alarming rate." }, { "from": "human", "value": "If the ants had not feasted on the Quechua dead in and around the fortress, the situation would swiftly become dire." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "But a few days of hunger would have been a few more days in which to plan.\n\nGods be thanked, the old high priestess Iniquill was a step ahead of me. On the eve of Raphael's triumph, she summoned a council that included Ocllo, Cusi, Machasu, several other maidens I did not know by name, and me.\n\n\"I have spoken with many of you these past days,\" Iniquill announced." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"And it is my belief that the time of the ancestors is upon us. The sacrifice must be offered.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Cusi nodded gravely, her pretty face luminous.\n\n\"So we must find a way for the twice-born to take the place of the high priest Villac Umu,\" the old priestess continued. \"This I propose. The ceremony is to be held at dawn. I will inform Lord Pachacuti that the Maidens of the Sun will ensure the sacrifice is in place. At nightfall, a dozen of your men including the twice-born will escort the holy sacrifice Cusi to pass the night in prayer in the temple. I will send my maidens to the temple quarters with many bowls of chicha, so that the priests may celebrate.\" She glanced at Machasu, then me." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"I am told you possess a drug that will not harm them?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Aye, my lady,\" I said.\n\n\"Then an hour before dawn, your men will escort the sacrifice Cusi into the priests' quarters. There they will administer the drug, and the twice-born will take Villac Umu's place.\"\n\nI frowned. \"Will the priests not be suspicious? Raphael... Lord Pachacuti... keeps his countrymen as prisoners.\"\n\n\"The priests do not know this,\" Iniquill said in a tranquil tone." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"But I am told that the Nahuatl who fights among silver-clad warriors is an ally of yours. If he accompanies them, there will be no suspicion. Will he do so?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"I think so.\"\n\nHer eyes glinted beneath wrinkled lids. \"You must make it so!\"\n\nI took a deep breath. \"Then I shall.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Good.\" Iniquill gave an approving nod." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"The Maidens of the Sun weave the wool of the vicuña for the garments of nobles. Tomorrow, we will provide you with fine clothing so that the priests do not doubt your men are in Lord Pachacuti's favor.\"\n\n\"What of the ants that keep watch over my companions?\" I asked. \"They may not allow them to leave.\"\n\n\"I do not think they do so any longer, lady,\" Machasu offered." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Lord Pachacuti has greater purposes for his black river now. They guard him and they keep anyone from leaving the city, but not from moving about within it.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"You're right,\" I said. \"They do, don't they? That was clever of you to notice.\"\n\nMachasu flushed with pleasure. \"Thank you, lady.\"\n\n\"So it is decided?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "the high priestess Iniquill inquired." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "My palms were sweating, and I rubbed them on my knees. \"It is a great deal to arrange in one day, my lady.\"\n\nHer dark gaze was implacable. \"I can give you no more aid than I have offered. If you are right, if we are all right and have read the signs correctly, it shall be as the ancestors willed it. I suggest you make an offering to them tomorrow. If we are wrong...\" Her age-hunched shoulders rose and fell." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"I fear we shall pay the price, every last one of us.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Her gaze settled on Cusi, softening with compassion. \"And for some, it will be terrible.\"\n\nIt was not exactly comforting.\n\nIn the chamber I shared with Machasu and a handful of other maidens, I drifted in and out of another night of restless sleep, my mind sifting through the myriad details I must accomplish on the morrow." }, { "from": "human", "value": "I tossed and turned on my narrow pallet, shifting my body this way and that in a quest for comfort, avoiding the thought that troubled me most." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "My oaths.\n\nIn all this time, I had still not found a way to resolve that conflict—and I was fast running out of time.\n\n\"You must gather stones from the river, Moirin,\" Jehanne's sweet, lilting voice informed me.\n\nI opened my eyes. \"What?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "She was perched on the edge of my pallet, her legs tucked beneath her." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Is that not how you discovered it was done? Warding a place within your twilight?\"\n\nI glanced around wildly. \"Jehanne!\"\n\n\"Hush.\" Jehanne touched my cheek. \"I am here. Did I not tell you I would be here at the end?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Aye, but—\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Aye, aye, aye,\" she mocked me, leaning forward to kiss my lips. \"Do not be alarmed, my beautiful girl. I am here, but you do but dream yet. It will not wake the others. You must gather stones from the river and anoint them with your blood, placing them in Raphael's quarters so that you might invoke your magic. It is the only way I may come through and speak to him.\"\n\nMy eyes stung. \"Can you turn him from his course?\"\n\n\"I can but try,\" Jehanne said gravely." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"I fear it may be too late. But at the least, I mean to free you from his oath. Call my name. It is all you need do.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "She kissed me again. \"Trust me.\"\n\n\"Jehanne!\"\n\nI startled awake. I could still feel Jehanne's kiss lingering on my lips, the scent of her perfume in the air.\n\nFor the first time in many long days, hope stirred in my breast." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Jehanne had saved me from Raphael's ambition before." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "If anyone could do it again, it was her.\n\nAlthough it was not yet dawn, I rose and dressed. Summoning the twilight, I slipped forth from my quarters, taking with me the satchel that contained the wurari poison and the thorns wrapped in a length of fabric.\n\nFollowing the pull of Bao's diadh-anam, I walked unseen through the streets of Qusqu." }, { "from": "human", "value": "As the course through the city was not so straightforward as the bond between Bao and me, it took me several false turns and sojourns into blind alleys before I found the humble dwellings on the outskirts of the city where Bao and the others were lodged." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The sun was rising in the east. In the twilight, it painted the snow-capped mountains beyond Qusqu with a mantle of pale silvery flame.\n\nI stepped over the threshold of the dwelling that held Bao and a dozen others. Fast asleep, he had not sensed my approach." }, { "from": "human", "value": "His face was serene and beautiful in sleep, but I could see the bright shadow that limned him, the shadow of death that Cusi had seen." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Releasing the twilight, I whispered his name. \"Bao!\"\n\nHe woke swiftly, reaching for a staff that wasn't there, and then yawned, his eyes crinkling. \"Moirin.\"\n\nThe others stirred, waking more slowly. \"Lady Moirin,\" Prince Thierry greeted me, his voice raspy with sleep." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"I understand Raphael is to be coronated on the morrow. Tell me you come bearing welcome news.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Whether or not it is welcome, I cannot say,\" I said. \"But I come bearing a plan.\"\n\nI told them.\n\nI showed them the stoppered jar of wurari, explaining its usage and the timing of its effects." }, { "from": "human", "value": "I unrolled the fabric-wrapped thorns, warning them that they must be very, very careful not to prick themselves." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"This will be a tricky business to coordinate,\" Thierry murmured. \"How do we avoid rousing Raphael's suspicions?\"\n\n\"Raphael has well nigh forgotten your existence for the moment, your highness,\" I said to him. \"The priestess Iniquill will assure him the Maidens of the Sun will see that the sacrifice is in place. I do not think he will take notice. And if the dead speak true...\" I took a deep breath." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"He will be otherwise distracted.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Thinking on his forthcoming deification, no doubt,\" Balthasar Shahrizai muttered. \"The mad bastard.\"\n\nBao gazed fixedly at me. \"That's not what you meant, is it?\"\n\nI shook my head." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"No. My lady Jehanne...\" I took another deep breath, my chest feeling tight." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "My sense of hope faded. Giving voice to my dream, it sounded as wild and unlikely as all the rest of our plan. \"She means for me to summon her. She means to convince Raphael to free me from the oath I swore.\"\n\n\"Is such a thing possible?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Bao asked in a steady tone." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Can you summon her?\"\n\nHot tears slid from my eyes. \"Stone and sea, I don't know! But we have placed our faith in the dead, and it is too late to turn back now.\"\n\n\"Moirin—\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"No.\" Prince Thierry raised one hand for silence, and there was command in the gesture." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Lady Moirin speaks the truth. We have made our choice. I have made my choice. I will not falter.\" He paused. \"A dozen men, you say?\"\n\nWiping my eyes, I nodded. \"Assuming he is willing, I will send Eyahue to bring you suitable garb. And if all goes according to plan, Temilotzin will come to fetch you before nightfall.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"We will be ready,\" Thierry said firmly." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"That I promise you.\" He glanced sidelong at Bao. \"Messire Bao, when it comes to it, the moment in the temple... do you know what needs to be done?\"\n\nBao was quiet." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Do you?\" I asked him." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Yes, Moirin.\" Bao met my gaze, one hand dropping to finger the hilt of the bronze knife shoved into the waistband of his breeches. He smiled sadly. \"Your handmaiden Cusi told me what was needful. I only wish it was not.\"\n\n\"So do I,\" I whispered.\n\nSummoning the twilight once more, I took my leave of them." }, { "from": "human", "value": "The sun had cleared the mountain range, and the city of Qusqu was stirring to life." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "I needed stones.\n\nI waded in the canals to gather them, my skirts hiked and wrapped around my knees. It took longer than I would have reckoned, but at last I collected four smooth, fist-sized stones, rattling along the walls of the canals, carried by the current. These, I stowed carefully in the bottom of my satchel." }, { "from": "human", "value": "By the time I had finished, it was noon, and the sun stood high overhead." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "I had to release the twilight and inquire of passersby to find Eyahue. As ever, the wily old pochteca had landed on his feet. Within a few days' time, he had established himself in Qusqu as a force for trade, and I found him talking with other traders in the market-place.\n\n\"Do you see these animals, lady?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "he demanded, indicating several shaggy beasts with haughty, long-nosed faces." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"The Quechua use them to bear burdens.\" He sucked at his teeth, rocking back on his heels. \"Pity they're bred for the mountains. No one's ever managed to get a breeding pair alive through the jungles.\"\n\nI touched his cheek." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Eyahue, I am here to honor a promise, and I have a favor to ask you,\" I said in Nahuatl." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Gods willing, it will be the last one.\"\n\nHis gaze sharpened. \"It is time you told me what you intend to do with the wurari, is it not?\"\n\nNodding, I told him.\n\n\"So that's the secret of the ancestors,\" he mused." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"You put a great deal of faith in dreams and portents, lady. I'll not risk my neck to aid you in this madness.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"I am not asking you to risk your neck,\" I said. \"But if you would collect the clothing from the women's temple and deliver it to our men, it would be a kindness.\"\n\nEyahue cackled and rubbed his hands together. \"Easily done! I'm always glad to pay a visit to the Maidens of the Sun.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "That left Temilotzin." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He was not so hard to find. Lord Pachacuti's most trusted warriors were housed in the palace—and the Jaguar Knight was more trusted than most. I found Temilotzin and asked him what I must. For a mercy, I found him alone, and did not need to dissemble for the sake of onlookers." }, { "from": "human", "value": "He laughed deep in his chest." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"You wish me to fetch your fellows to the temple? That is all?\"\n\n\"Aye.\" I hesitated, mindful of the fact that I was asking Temilotzin to risk his neck. \"It's a dangerous favor to grant. If we fail on the morrow, Raphael... Lord Pachacuti... will learn that you betrayed him.\"\n\n\"Little warrior,\" Temilotzin said fondly, laying one hand on my shoulder." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"I will do as you ask. If you fail, I will do my best to kill Lord Pachacuti myself before he learns of my betrayal.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Thank you,\" I whispered.\n\nHe shrugged. \"Prince Manco and the Quechua who place their faith in him are fools. No man should possess such power. Lord Pachacuti will not be content with Tawantinsuyo. Sooner or later, if he is not stopped, his gaze will turn to the Nahuatl Empire.\"\n\n\"You're a wise man, Temilotzin,\" I said.\n\nThe Jaguar Knight smiled wryly." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Unlike the Quechua, the Nahuatl have had years to learn to distrust the ambitions of the strangers from across the sea. It is a pity, for this Raphael was not like the others, those men of Aragonia. He taught our ticitls how to stave off the spotted sickness that kills.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He touched a finger to his temple. \"But I think since then he has become sick himself, and there is no cure for it but death.\"\n\n\"I fear you're right,\" I murmured.\n\nTemilotzin nodded. \"I will pray for you.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Taking my leave of him, I made my way to the Temple of the Ancestors." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Outside the edifice, there were vendors selling flowers. Many of them were unfamiliar to me, but I was pleased to see garlands of orange and gold marigolds. It seemed a hopeful omen, reminding me of the field I'd caused to blossom in Bhaktipur.\n\nWhether through careless magnanimity or simple carelessness, save for my bow and quiver, Raphael had not taken my personal possessions from me." }, { "from": "human", "value": "The value of those few items I had to trade was vastly in excess of the value of the flowers, but there was no point in being stingy at such a time." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The Quechua vendor stared in disbelief when I asked to trade a gold armband that had been one of Emperor Achcuatli's gifts for his stock of marigold garlands, but he swiftly agreed before the foolish foreign woman could change her mind. He and his assistant helped me carry them into the temple.\n\nMy chest tightened again as I entered the place in which Cusi intended to offer up her life.\n\nIt was an imposing, somber space." }, { "from": "human", "value": "On one wall was the familiar sun-disk emblem depicting the god Inti." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Before it stood an altar on which the headdress of the Sapa Inca rested, waiting for Raphael to lay claim to it. But it was the other end of the temple that made my breath catch in my throat.\n\nThe preserved remains of eight previous Quechua emperors were seated in a gallery. The bodies themselves were tightly wrapped in dingy cerements that clung to their ancient bones, the flesh beneath long since wasted away, but they had been lovingly dressed in fine garments of brightly dyed wool and adorned with gold jewelry and head-pieces, feather mantles laid over their shoulders." }, { "from": "human", "value": "War-clubs inlaid with precious stones rested in the crooks of their arms, and flowers were heaped at their feet, in their laps, around their necks." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "It was terrible... and strangely beautiful.\n\nThere were other Quechua making offerings, although not as many as I might have expected. I wondered if it was because the Sapa Inca Yupanqui had not yet been embalmed and joined the ranks of the ancestors, or because Lord Pachacuti the Earth-Shaker had overturned the order of their world.\n\nFollowing their lead, I gathered an armload of garlands and ascended the stairway that bisected the gallery." }, { "from": "human", "value": "I could not help but avert my gaze from the apex of the stairs, the highest place in the temple." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "If all went according to plan, that was where it was to be done.\n\nInstead, I made myself gaze at the faces of the ancestors themselves as I turned into the gallery. They were sunken and featureless beneath their wrappings, but for all of that, they possessed a strange dignity. The walls behind them were carved with elaborate depictions of Quechua deities." } ]